Papi
by Winekita
Summary: Alternate Ending to Blood of Olympus. It's been eight years since Leo Valdez disappeared, and seven since both camps gave up the search. Percy and Hazel have received notes from their fathers telling them to come to Houston, but they don't know why. When they show up, what do they find? Rated T for swearing and some fun drunken stuff in future chapters. Image is mine. COMPLETE!
1. Prologue

_**This is an Alternate Ending to Blood of Olympus that I wrote a bit before the book came out. As soon as I read it, I figured 'Hey, I can actually make this work!' so now this is officially an AE.**_

_**Two things make this an AE: 1) Leo does NOT tell anyone about Calypso during the voyage to Athens. 2) He survives through the same means as BoO, but Festus crashes again and he must rebuild Festus a second time-still not telling anyone his ultimate reason why: Calypso.**_

_**Either way, Leo has to disappear.**_

_**So, with that in mind, please enjoy **_**Papi_!_**

_**Disclaimer: I no own PJO or HoO. I is not named Rick.**_

* * *

**Prologue**

"_Hey, have you guys seen Leo?"_

_Percy and Annabeth looked up from their kiss-fest at a slightly nervous Piper. She was fidgeting and messing with the braid in her hair. "Well?" she asked._

_The couple shrugged in sync. "Did you check Cabin 9?" Annabeth asked._

"_Nyssa and them haven't seen him since last night."_

"_Big House?"_

"_Chiron and Mr. D haven't seen him today either."_

"_Dining Hall? It is lunch time."_

"_Just checked. Empty."_

"_Bunker 9?"_

"_Jason's there now, but I just have this feeling…"_

_Annabeth and Percy shared a look. Uh-oh. Finally Percy turned back to Piper. "Dream or knife vision?"_

_Piper glanced around. "Knife. I was cleaning it when it shimmered with a vision."_

_Annabeth rose up from beside Percy and hugged Piper. "What happened?"_

_Piper took a few deep breaths before beginning:_

"_I saw Leo falling through the sky, just like the time I saw him in the knife right before he disappeared for five days. Only…This time he was falling just above Festus. He looked like he was trying to fix Festus while falling. Then I saw him walking along sand, like he was on a beach or something. Then he was lying unconscious in a white fog, and the fog was seeping into his eyes and mouth. Not out of them. Into them! Then…he…faded away."_

_She burst into tears. Annabeth hugged her again, this time Percy joining in._

_After a few minutes, Annabeth asked, "When you went to the Big House, did you tell Chiron or Mr. D about the vision?"_

"_No," she said flatly. "I didn't have the courage."_

_Percy nodded. "We need to go tell them, though."_

_Just then, Jason landed out of nowhere. "Pipes!"_

_All three demigods turned towards the son of Jupiter. He was breathing heavily, like he'd just run a marathon. His distraught face said it all._

_Leo wasn't at Bunker 9._

"_Leo's not the only one missing," Jason hacked out._

_Percy, Annabeth and Piper held their breath as Jason continued:_

"_Festus is gone, too."_

* * *

_Of course, a search had been conducted. All of the demigods looked for possible signs of a struggle anywhere: burn marks, blast holes, footprints, claw marks…anything! But, there weren't any signs. At all._

_Jason contacted Reyna at Camp Jupiter. She, Frank and their centurions had not seen hide nor hair of Leo and Festus. Hazel was using Arion to travel cross-country in search of clues, but also came up empty-handed._

_Percy and Annabeth tried Olympus. The gods flat-out refused to offer help. This was mostly Zeus saying the demigods needed to rely on themselves. Hephaestus looked outraged, but kept silent. The only other god that didn't agree with Zeus was (weirdly) Aphrodite. She looked thrilled about something, and Annabeth could've sworn she heard her muttering something about her 'OTP is being reunited' and 'the others should know'…whatever that meant._

_Piper kept bugging Nico about the fading away part. Nico always told her that Leo wasn't dead or he'd sense it, but Piper was never convinced._

_At six months, both camps halted the search and returned to their lives. The rest of the Seven and Nico continued their search in vain._

_One morning, after another six months, Piper got a black enveloped letter in the mail. She read the ancient Greek writing twice over and chucked the letter in the trash. Jason came over a few hours later to find Piper crying hysterically. He knew why. Jason had gotten the same black letter. He hugged Piper as she cried out for hours. "He isn't! There isn't a body so why would they do this? WHY!? Well I'm not going! I won't go, no matter how much anyone tries to persuade me! It's too much! We can't just give up on him so easily!"_

_Jason kept his emotions in check, letting her vent. He had plenty of time to think things over about the letter and agreed with Piper on one thing:_

_They would not be attending the funeral of Leo Valdez._

* * *

**_A/N: Phew, so this is my first major fanfic. I hope you enjoyed that prologue! For future reference, the things in Italics only is the past. The next chapter will look normal, don't worry._**


	2. Normal Morning

_**I don't own PJO or HoO. I do own the two OCs that you are about to get acquainted with, though. :)**_

_**Also, since Rick has stated that not all of the Seven are going to survive the BoO, let's just say this is an AE to whatever happens. Everyone in the Seven lives-yay!**_

* * *

**One: Normal Morning**

"_Papi_!"

"_Papi_, wake up!"

Leo Valdez looked at the clock on his bedside table. It read 6:02 AM. He took his pillow and covered his face, groaning. Why did the universe always want him to wake up so _early_!?

Two small weights suddenly bounced onto his stomach. The wind was knocked out of him. Giggles vibrated from the weights.

"_Papi_, we hungry!" Two voices sounded together.

Leo peeked out from his pillow and smiled. Two little reflections of himself stared right at him, expectantly, laughter in their eyes. Twins, a girl and a boy: the children of Leo Valdez.

"HUNGRY," said the girl, Esperanza Grace Valdez. "Want food!"

The boy, Tulio Charles Valdez, bounced again. "Bekfast!"

Leo's smile got bigger and he rolled over, taking the twins with him. He rolled on top of them belly-first and sarcastically said, "Man, my mattress is so _lumpy_! Didn't I just buy a new one?"

Giggles and muffled shouts erupted from beneath him. He grinned and bounced lightly on top of them. "Geeze, I guess I should try and flatten these lumps before I take the mattress back!" Leo started patting his children down. The twins laughed.

Finally he lifted up and looked down at his kids. "Oh! Would ya look at that! I've found a couple of rats in my bed!"

Tulio grinned cheekily. "_Papi_, we not rats!"

"My mistake, _mijo_." Leo practically vaulted off the bed, trying not to roll back onto his kids. The twins bounced off in a similar fashion, mirroring their father.

"Bekfast now?" Little Tulio tilted his head. Leo smiled.

"What d'ya want for breakfast, then?" he asked.

"Eggs!" Esperanza—otherwise known as Espie—said enthusiastically. "Eggs n' bacon!"

"Waffles!" Tulio argued. "Want waffles more!"

Leo grinned and compromised, "How 'bout an eggs n' waffles tower with bacon on top?"

The twins gave a "Yay!" and ran out of the room. Leo stretched and looked at himself—his 24-year-old self—in the mirror hanging on his closet door. His pj's consisted of an old Rolling Stones t-shirt and plaid boxers. His curly black hair had grown out over the years, becoming wavier rather than curlier. His signature scrawniness had finally given way to more of a muscular build, his arms—particularly his biceps—being proof of the years of work in the forge and shop turning him that way. Though, all things considered, he was still pretty skinny. And _short_. Gods, he hated how he had never grown past 5'6. _**(A/N: I really don't want to hear it from him…I'm 5'3…dammit…)**_

He had slight stubble on his upper lip and chin, like a thin almost-goatee that wasn't connected, something he was mostly too lazy to shave off during his morning routine but had taken a liking to all the same.

He posed, flexing his muscles like he would if he was showing off to a girl. "Bad Boy Supreme," he mumbled to himself, grinning. "Lookin' good."

"_Papi_!"

Leo snapped back into reality and pulled on some jeans quickly. He realized they were the same jeans he had worn yesterday, with grease and oil stains smeared all over them, but shrugged and reminded himself not to touch them with his hands while cooking.

Leo stepped outside his room and tripped over his son. Tulio instantly clung onto his father's leg, giggling.

Leo grinned and started walking towards the stairs with Tulio in tow. "Man, first my mattress is all lumpy and now my shoe is being weird! I'm having such a rotten day!"

He reached the stairs and tickled Tulio until his son let go. Leo grabbed him and slung him over his shoulder while skipping down the stairs.

Leo's place consisted of two levels. The second story held three bedrooms—the twins', Leo's and a guest room—and two bathrooms, plus a storage closet in the hall, which was more of a toy-hiding closet. The first floor was split. The stairs led into the half that held the kitchen, dining room and small living room—all within view of each other, rather like an apartment. In the kitchen there was a swinging door that led to the other half of the first floor: the forge and machine shop. The machine shop held the front door while the forge held the back. The forge was where Leo could work on various weapons and do-dads that demigods could use. The machine shop was where Leo worked on stuff for the mortals: cars, televisions, the occasional computer, and other machines that were busted. Leo got plenty of work from both ends, earning a respectable living for him and his kids.

Espie was sitting at the dining table, swinging her legs back and forth while fidgeting in her chair. She spotted Leo and her brother instantly and charged them.

"_Papi_, I wanna up too!" She begged with her puppy-dog eyes, beating against Leo's leg.

Leo shifted Tulio onto his left forearm, the latter swinging playfully like a monkey. He held his right arm out and Espie grabbed on in a similar fashion.

Leo lifted them up, mimicking a weightlifter, shouting, "Who's the strongman?"

"_Papi_ strongman!" the twins shouted together.

"Who's the strongman!?"

"_Papi_ strongman!"

"RRRRAAAAAAAA!" Leo roared and set his kids down.

All three Valdez's laughed for a good five minutes before Leo tore himself away to cook.

Thirty minutes later, all of them were eating at the dining table, munching quietly on their individual eggs 'n waffle towers. Leo's was humongous, twice the size of the twins' with over ten stories of eggs and waffles combined, while the twins' towers were just four stories. The twins had developed Leo's appetite for sure, since they were trying to inhale their towers like their _Papi_.

Leo's work phone rang. He leaped up and took the phone off the sofa—where he had left it the night before. "Hello," he answered, "Ultimate Repair Boy speaking! How may I help you?"

Tulio and Espie ate on while their _Papi_ took down his client's information. They knew not to interrupt him during work. Espie flicked a crunchy bit of bacon at her brother. He retaliated with a small bit of egg white. She countered by throwing a bit of waffle at him. He shot more egg—this time part of the yolk—at her.

When Leo returned to the table his twins were smiling innocently at him, covered in various pieces of their food towers. He looked down at them and crossed his arms.

"Uh-huh," he said. "Angels, the both of ya."

The twins kept up their cheeky smiles. He picked a bit of bacon off of Espie and ate it. "Yum."

Espie threw a waffle bite at her father. He caught it in his mouth, smiling. "Nice try," he said while chewing.

After they were done eating, the twins went over to the couch to watch TV while Leo washed the dishes. He heard them scuffle around, one trying to pry the remote from the other. He sighed. Just barely two years old and they were already fighting like a married couple. He wondered if this would be easier with…

His head began to throb.

Leo shook the pain away. The twins were now shouting behind him, each fighting for the remote. He turned his head and shouted, "Oi! Sit still over there!"

"Tui started it!"

"Did not! An' no call me Tui!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did NOT!"

"TUI!"

"_PAPIIIIII_!"

Leo intervened there. He hated hearing Tulio whine. It hurt his ears. Leo, soap still on his hands, ran over and grabbed the remote from Esperanza. He pushed the twins apart and glowered at them.

"What did I tell you about fighting?"

The twins both pouted.

"Well?"

"No do," they finally answered together.

"Then why were you fighting?"

The twins said nothing.

"Mmm-hmm." Leo wiggled the remote in his hand and set it between them. "Share nicely."

He returned to the dishes.

* * *

_**A/N: Aww, look! Leo's okay after all! All the fluffs happened in this chapter, didn't they? :3 Fair warning: the actual plot is a little slow to start so fluff shall continue for a couple more chapters! :D**_


	3. Tangled Lion King

**_Nope, don't own PJO. Espie and Tulio belong to me though._**

* * *

**Two: Tangled Lion King**

Esperanza got to the remote first and flicked the TV on. Tulio cried out, "Wanna watch Lion King!"

Espie clicked the remote and Tangled came on. She squealed and settled down into the sofa cushion. Tulio cried again, "Lion King better!"

"Tang-ed better!" Espie shot her brother a raspberry.

Tulio shot it back. He glanced back over to where their _Papi_ was drying the dishes. He loved their _Papi_ and didn't like making him angry, so Tulio sat and watched Tang-ed.

For ten minutes.

Then Tulio's ADHD got the better of him. He got up and wandered around. He liked exploring, but their home was only so big. He glanced over at the door to the shop. The shop was big! So many cool things to see and play with! Tulio trotted towards the door in a sneaky way, humming his own personal theme song. He was gonna sneak into the shop and play with one of the bits of scrap his _Papi_ had lying around. But, of course, Espie ratted him out right away:

"You not a'sposed to go there, Tui!"

Tulio shot his sister a glare and glanced over towards the stairs. Their _Papi_ had gone upstairs to change and get ready for work. Footsteps echoed on the steps and Leo appeared in a grubby white tee with jean overalls and work boots. He was just clicking on his tool belt when he saw Tulio standing near the door to the shop. He frowned.

"Tulio…" he began. "What did _Papi_ say about going into the shop alone?"

Tulio shuffled his feet. "No do?"

"Right." Leo walked over and ruffled his son's curly hair. "Oh, well…C'mon. You guys can come in 'til work starts."

Tulio beamed and followed his _Papi_ into the shop. Espie shut off the TV and followed shouting, "Wait for me!"

* * *

_**A/N: Ha, another fluff chapter! Just getting to know the twins a bit before stuff happens. So that was pretty much the shortest chapter of the story. Does this even count as a chapter? :P More of a filler sidebar, really...**_


	4. Of Morse Codes and Pegasi

_**Nope, I still don't own PJO or Leo D:**_

_**Yup, Tulio and Espie are still mine :D**_

_**And thank you to all the follows and favorites! They mean a lot!**_

* * *

**Three: Of Morse Codes and Pegasi**

The machine shop wasn't too big, just the size of a normal auto garage, which suited Leo just fine. The forge in the back was slightly bigger as he liked to collect random demigod stuff and kept his main security system back there.

Work wouldn't actually start up for another hour, so Leo moved over to one of his projects. It was a '99 Toyota Camri that had been scrapped recently. Leo had picked it out of a junkyard to try and upgrade it to a demigod-hiding car, something he had once done with the Argo II and had perfected on Festus (post-Giant War). Of course, it would also come with some awesome butt-kicking weapons to fight off monsters should the shield system go down, but those were still in the planning stages. The demigod shield system was still giving him problems and he was trying to fix it between jobs.

As he bent over the engine, installing bits and pieces of Celestial Bronze, Tulio and Espie explored. Leo trusted his twins in here as long as he was near them, much like when he was a child in his mother's workshop. He tapped out a message in Morse Code: _Don't wander too far._

_OK._

That was tapped twice, one for each twin. Leo had taught both of them some basic Morse sayings. They couldn't do sentences yet, but small answers were ok.

Leo was just about to squeeze himself further into the engine to install a specific wire when he heard a _tat-tat-tat_ from one of his twins.

Papi.

The tapping came from behind the car. It sounded pretty far. _Yes?_ he answered.

_Horse._

Confused, Leo rose up from the engine and saw Tulio looking at a screen at the other end of the shop. He had installed a complex security system into the house, shop and forge, with awesome monster-beating weapons built into the walls and ground, traps placed around the house (which mortals couldn't set off) and microscopic security cameras surrounding the place in every nook and cranny Leo could find. Most of the cameras sent video feeds to screens in the forge. The screen Tulio was looking at was the front stoop/waiting room camera. It was placed in the shop so Leo could see customers when they came up.

He walked over and looked at the screen.

"Horse," Tulio repeated aloud when the screen flickered from the waiting room to outside.

Horse?

Not quite.

The horse on the screen was pretty big. It was pitch-black with a graying snout and mane. It was stamping around nervously, flaring its huge wings.

Yeah. Wings.

"Not a horse," Leo corrected. "Pegasus."

"Like on Herclees?"

Leo snickered. That was one of the twins' favorite Disney movies, even though it was complete and utter trash to him, who knew the real thing. His children knew of the demigod world—to an extent—but, being young, they didn't care how inaccurate the movie was. Leo rather enjoyed how Hades was portrayed, though. That was just hilarious.

"Yes. Like the one on Hercules."

"How come it black?"

Leo smiled. "Cause that's what its color is, silly." He ruffled his son's hair. Tulio looked up at his father with huge eyes. Leo caught himself staring at them. Esperanza had been born with Leo's deep brown eyes. Tulio didn't get them. He got almond-colored eyes. Every time Leo looked into those almond-colored eyes he was reminded of the deep dark hole in his heart and memory. It hurt to look into them.

Leo turned away and faced the screen. A Pegasus wasn't that unusual. Leo had served many demigods over the years. He even had a monster come in from time to time asking to repair anything from a busted TV to a broken sword—He'd even asked the demigod to fix a broken nail! Leo liked him. His name was Steve. And he was one of those rare vegetarian monsters, so Leo's tofu burgers were a big hit with Steve, hence the regular stopping by.

A figure hopped off the Pegasus, glancing down at a slip of paper and back up at what Leo could only guess was his shop's sign: _**Leo's Mechanical Monsters and Repair**_

Leo studied the figure and gasped. The figure, dressed in a leather wind-breaker jacket over a faded orange t-shirt and jeans, was tall and lean, built like a swimmer, and had ruffled black hair. When he looked up at the sign, Leo zoomed the camera in and saw the sea green eyes.

"Holy Hephaestus," he breathed, tensing up. "It's Percy…"

* * *

_**A/N: Eh, sorry, another short chapter, but now at least something happened that pertains to the story! What's Percy doing in Houston? Better yet, what is Leo doing in Houston? Wonder which answer will come first?**_


	5. The Note and the Past

_**Ah, yes, I still don't own Leo, Percy or anyone in the two original PJO series. Not even Blackjack, dammit.**_

_**Ooh get ready! Remember that summary up there that seems to have nothing to do with what I've been posting the past three chapters? Look! This chapter actually goes along with it :D Yay!**_

* * *

**Four: The Note and the Past**

Percy Jackson studied the sign on the front of the building. _**Leo's Mechanical Monsters and Repair**_, huh? The mechanical monsters part just screamed 'demigod' to Percy. And then the first word finally clicked in his brain. Being dyslexic didn't help trying to decipher the sign in the first place, so it took a while for him to process the whole sign. Why the first word-which was the shortest-took the longest to decipher, he had no idea. But once it did click, Percy's eyes widened.

"Leo?"

Percy read, re-read, spell-checked and did everything he possibly could to make sure he was reading that sign right. It still said LEO, plain as day.

He suddenly thought back to two days ago, when he received the note about coming here.

* * *

"_Percy, what is this?"_

_Percy, sitting on the couch, looked behind him. Annabeth was holding a blue sticky note in her left hand, her right hand occupied by their beautiful three-year-old Lacy._

_She handed him the note when she sat down on the couch with him. Lacy hopped out of her mother's grasp and sat on Percy's lap, happily reaching up to ruffle her father's hair._

_Percy read the note._

Go to this address. Wait inside for more instructions. I wouldn't recommend bringing Annabeth. It would be unwise—forgive the slight irony in the statement.

-P.

_The address was on the back of the note._

709 S. Fest Street Houston, TX.

"_You gonna go?" Annabeth asked._

"_Pretty sure it's an order from Dad," Percy answered. "But I wonder why I have to go. Texas isn't known for its…uh…water supply."_

"_Maybe that's why." Annabeth paused and made a face. Her hand shot to her stomach. She was seven months in. Percy was about to shoot to the phone when she waved it off. "Kick. Just a kick." She smiled. "Anyway, I was thinking maybe there's a demigod there that needs help? Could be a sibling of yours?"_

"_Didn't think of that." Percy scratched the back of his neck. "But still…Why Houston? Why me? Why not send some other demigod like, say, one that still goes to camp? We haven't been on a quest since before Lacy was born!"_

_Annabeth kissed him. He kissed back, smiling._

"_I'm sure you'll be fine," she said. "I'm a little pissed that I can't go with you, but I understand why." She motioned to Lacy and then to her own stomach. "Just try not to miss this one's birth. You almost missed Lacy's."_

_Percy grimaced. He had been in Camp Jupiter, helping with some negotiation problems. While he was discussing something with Frank and Hazel, an IM appeared with Piper looking distraught. When it was finally sputtered out that Annabeth was having the baby, Percy immediately left. Frank and Hazel followed him on their eagles. When they arrived at the hospital, Lacy was already in Annabeth's arms. He was still kicking himself over that._

"_I'll try," he promised._

* * *

Now Percy understood why he had to come to Houston. Well, maybe not why _him_ personally, but he did know why_ here_.

Leo was here.

He had almost choked when he finally accepted Leo's name being on the sign.

Leo had disappeared eight years ago, one month after they had defeated Gaea, without a trace. So had the newly-formed Festus. No one knew why, though people had suspected that Leo had rebuilt Festus to run away. Piper refused to believe he would leave without saying good-bye or at least leaving a note. That was mainly because of the visions in her knife (that she had refused to tell anyone excluding Percy, Annabeth and Chiron). Considering Leo's track record, though, a lot of people went with the runaway theory-Percy wanted to believe it made them feel better at the end of the day if they thought he ran away and wasn't captured or kidnapped by some awful being bent on destroying the world.

The gods wouldn't tell them any news about Leo whatsoever (though Hephaestus seemed pretty upset and Aphrodite looked as if she wanted to tell the whole world the juiciest gossip ever). Percy wanted to punch Zeus so hard in the nose for refusing to help the demigods. _Seriously! After all that trouble from the Titan AND Giant Wars!? The _least_ he could do would be to tell us if he ran away and doesn't want to be found OR if he needs our help escaping from something terrible. Show some gratitude, geeze!_

A search had gone out almost immediately, but after six months most had given up. Nico was sure he hadn't died, but after a year Camp Half-Blood held a funeral in his honor anyway. The rest of the Seven and Nico didn't attend. Neither did the gods. Surprisingly, almost all of Camp Jupiter showed up for his shroud-burning. Reyna had said that even though the Romans started off on not-so-friendly terms with Leo, they would still honor his memory as one of the Seven who saved the world.

Percy had seen the shroud a day before the funeral. Nyssa had come to him asking if it looked okay. It was red with a hand-stitched metal dragon flying in the middle, covered in white and blue flames. The shroud was lined with a frame of little _Argo II_'s, each one looking like they danced with the edge of the fabric. Speaking of dancing, the beautiful flame-covered bronze dragon in the middle looked like it was flying with each tiny movement of fabric. It's ruby eyes (which stood out even against the red base) glistened and sparkled, as if the fabric dragon really was alive. Obviously, Percy gave it a thumbs-up in approval.

Regardless of the funeral, though, the Seven—whom many new demigods were referring to as the Six, which hurt everyone even more—kept searching in between quests. Eventually, and reluctantly, they also returned to their lives. Piper and Jason were the most devastated. Every day for two years they tried to IM Leo—Percy winced at the thought of all the wasted drachmas and denarii—but for some reason it wouldn't connect. Even the Fleecy shortcut wasn't working. It would only show static, like an old TV set. It was like Leo had just been…

…erased…

Percy shook away growing tears. _No_, he thought. _That's just too…easy! Why would the gods tell me _now_ where Leo had been hiding?_

He shook his head. A disgusted whinny came from behind him.

_"This place smells."_

"Blackjack," Percy warned. "It's a machine shop. Of course it smells."

_"It needs donuts."_

"Pretty sure they don't have any, bud."

_"They should. They'd make more money to make this place look less like a dump."_

Percy shrugged. "Go ahead and leave, then. I have to wait inside. If I need you I'll whistle, okay?"

Blackjack whinnied, _"Tell them about the good business investment in donuts!"_ and flew off, leaving Percy to face whatever was in this machine shop alone.

* * *

_**A/N: Short again. At least I got a bit of Blackjack action in there. Hope I got him right. And I've never been to Houston, so please don't tell me the street doesn't exist, because I KNOW it doesn't. Oh, but if it does-that's cool. I just randomly pulled a name out my ass, and it came to look like I rearranged Festus without the U, didn't it? Ha! *highfives self***_

_**And by the way, thanks for the follows and favs, people! I'm a really happy camper because of them! :)**_


	6. Bittersweet Reunion

_**This is getting annoying. Do I really look like I own PJO? No? Good. 'Cause I don't. BUT! Tulio is mine :P**_

_**A quick reply to a guest review: I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or genuinely asking :P So, I'll just say that you gotta wait to find out. In my opinion, it is probably pretty obvious. But, I'm not trying to keep it a total secret, either, or else it would be a lot harder to guess. If you figure it out, kudos.**_

_**WARNING: The following chapter has a nice shiny word in it that rhymes with Fire Truck. If you don't like that swear word, then you might wanna avert your eyes when Percy starts screaming *hint hint***_

_**EXTRA WARNING: The following chapter also contains Tulio cuteness. That is all.**_

* * *

**Five: Bittersweet Reunion**

Percy slowly opened the door to the shop. The smell of metal, smoke, fire and…eggs and bacon (?)…hit his nose. The room he was standing in was just a small, clean waiting room with three chairs. A desk stood in front of the swinging door to the actual shop. A bell sat on the counter, along with a note that read _**Ring for assistance**_.

Percy rang the bell.

Nothing happened.

He rang it again after a minute.

Nothing.

_Of course,_ he thought. _How could someone _possibly_ hear this tiny bell back there?_

But, just before Percy rang the bell a third time, the door swung open. No one came out, as far as Percy could tell. Then a tiny voice rang out:

"Hi!"

Percy leaned over the counter and nearly fainted.

A little Leo looked right up at him! Little black curls bounced on his head. His huge almond eyes were shining happily. His t-shirt read _**Kiss the Mechanic**_ (which Percy thought was adorable) and his little jean overalls hung loose on him, with a suspender button undone. One of his shoes was unvelcroed. _**(**_**_A/N: Totally not a word, but do I care? Nope :D)_**

Tiny-Leo grinned up at him—the same impish grin that Leo had had (minus a few teeth)—held up a blue plastic wrench and said, "Need fix?"

_Oh, gods that'd be really cute if it didn't look just like Leo!_

"Uh," Percy stammered. "I was told to come here by…" Should he tell Tiny-Leo about Poseidon's note? _Maybe this is why I'm here. Maybe _this_ is Leo and the gods want me to change him back!_

Wasn't impossible. Considering all the shit they had gone through on the _Argo II_ as teenagers, someone kidnapping Leo and turning him into an eternal two-year-old (probably in reverse order) wasn't hard to imagine.

But just before he could muster out an explanation, the door swung open again.

This time a full-grown—and very dirty—Leo stepped into the room. Percy's mouth hung open. Leo's hair had grown out, now reaching his shoulders, and was wavier now, yet still curly. He had stubble on his chin and upper lip. He hadn't gotten any taller, but he wasn't scrawny anymore. His biceps rippled slightly through his shirt as he folded his arms across his broad chest. Leo was also wearing jean overalls and a simple not-white-anymore t-shirt. His signature tool belt was hugging his hips.

His brown eyes were the biggest difference. Percy remembered them always holding amusement. Now his eyes were slightly clouded, like he was in pain. Percy noticed the almost-invisible bags under his old friend's eyes, but he blamed that on owning a business (judging by the sign).

Suddenly Leo brightened and grinned. It was the same old grin. The same impish smile that made people think he was about to pull a prank. The same grin from when he was fifteen!

"Well, well!" Leo exclaimed. "Never expected _you_ to show up at my door!"

He hopped over the desk and gave Percy a huge bear hug. Percy was too stunned to react at first. Then he realized he couldn't breathe!

He hit Leo on the back and gasped for air. Leo took the hint and let go, still grinning. Percy gulped in a lungful of air before mustering out, "Holy…Hera…Leo! Geeze…!"

Leo's grin broadened. "Good to see you, man. What brings you to good ol' Houston?"

Percy coughed before starting. "First off: I cannot _believe_ how strong you are!"

Leo laughed. "Jealous of the new muscles?" He posed. "Bet'cha I could make an Aphrodite girl swoon!"

Percy frowned, ignoring Leo's friendly conversation. He took a huge, deep breath. "ALRIGHT, WHAT THE FUCK!? ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO ACT LIKE YOU HAVEN'T BEEN GONE FOR EIGHT FUCKING YEARS, DUDE?!"

Percy inhaled and exhaled angrily as an echo bounced off the walls of the room.

Leo's grin fell and his jaw dropped in shock. He immediately ran back behind the counter and shooed Tiny-Leo through the doorway. Percy heard him muttering, "Don't ever repeat what he just said. That was a _very _bad word! Go get Espie and stay in the living room, ok?"

Espie? Percy tilted his head at that name. His daughter, maybe? _Wow_, he thought,_ Leo's got two kids? And I just said__…__…_with an impressionable baby in the room_…_? Percy smacked his palm to his forehead. _Man…now I feel like an ass…_

"Ok, sorry for that, Leo," he apologized. "I forgot there were sensitive ears in the room."

When Leo straightened back up he shot a glare at Percy. Percy backed up a pace. His eyes had gotten hard over the years. And scary.

But, they eventually softened and Leo leaned on the counter, supporting himself with his elbows. He grinned like nothing was wrong. "No prob. Just try to not do that again."

Percy's anger flared once more. "I won't do it around them but I DAMN WILL DO IT AROUND YOU! What in Hades' name are you doing here!? Do you have _any_ idea how much we searched for you!?"

Leo had improved his poker face over the years. He held Percy's glare calmly, like he was staring at a wall. Finally, he dropped it. "You searched for me?"

"YES!" Percy was well aware of the slight echo in the room as he yelled. He had enough sense to censor what he said while yelling, in case the two kids could hear him. "OF COURSE WE SEARCHED FOR YOU! WHY DID YOU RUN OFF!?"

Leo flinched. "Run off? I don't…" He scratched the back of his head. "I don't remember…" His brows furrowed.

"Don't remember?" Percy lowered the volume. "Dude, then how did you end up in Houston?"

Leo looked at him, his eyes clouding over more. He looked like he was genuinely trying to remember something. "I…remember…three years ago…I came to this place—" he gestured to the room around him "—and starting the business. I remember…" His eyes went milky. "Hospital…kids…" He blinked a few times before his head lolled. Percy flew over to catch him before he conked his head on the counter top. Leo steadied himself, taking a step back and leaning against the wall.

Percy watched his friend battle against the clouds in his eyes. Eventually Leo straightened up and looked at him, his eyes almost completely back to normal. "Sorry. I can't remember things like that nowadays."

Percy studied Leo. He was pretty sure the son of Hephaestus had a spell on him, or maybe the Mist was woven too tightly around him.

Finally, Percy said in the calmest voice possible, "Three years in Houston? Ok, I'll believe that. But what about the other five? Y'know, the first five years between Camp Half-Blood and now? Where were you?"

The cloudiness returned. Leo slumped up against the wall, shaking his head. "Can't…"

Percy ran over to Leo just as his friend collapsed. Leo was holding his head, groaning, "Madrid…London…Paris…Athens?" He shook his head again. "Mostly Madrid…"

_Spain? _Percy tried to get him to hold his head up but almost fell back himself when he saw Leo's eyes. They were so milky that Percy almost couldn't tell where the white part ended and the irises began!

"Alright," Percy said shakily. "Just stop. Stop trying, Leo. You'll hurt yourself."

Leo's eyes began to clear, the brown slowly returning. He took a shaky breath before whispering, "I can't remember…"

"Yeah, alright. Something's up." Percy patted Leo on the back. "There's gotta be a spell on you or something."

Leo scoffed. "No shit, Sherlock. I've tried to remember countless times, but it always comes up foggy and…incomplete. Like, I know I'm there; I remember doing stuff, but sometimes—actually a lot of times—there will be moments where a huge blanket of fog comes in and messes me up…It hurts sometimes so I've learned to just…"

He trailed off, not looking at Percy. Percy finished for him, "Just live with forgetting?"

They stood up and Leo finally looked at him. His eyes were almost back to normal, just slightly cloudy, like when Percy first saw them. Percy nodded. "Sorry, man. I didn't know. That's a pretty powerful spell, too, if it's affected you for eight years!"

"Six," Leo corrected. "Only the first six have the fog. As soon as I brought the twins back home from the hospital there haven't been any…fixes in my memories."

"Change of subject time," Percy said, his ADHD kicking in. "TWINS!?"

Leo grinned like the old days again, obviously glad to be talking about something else. "Oh yeah! You haven't seen them—well, you've actually seen one. C'mon in and I'll introduce ya!"

* * *

_**A/N: Ooooh Percy used a naughty word! D: And in front of a two-year-old, no less! Umm umm umm~! *does this in kindergartner's sing-song voice***_

_***ahem***_

_**I honestly feel like Percy would use big boy words every once in a while at this point in life. Leo also has a colorful vocabulary, which you will be seeing eventually, but he has the sense to keep it on the down-low around the twins :3 What a responsible parent he is, right?**__**  
**_


	7. Meet the Twins

_**I not named Rick, so no: I do not own PJO or HoO.**_

_**The cuteness that are Espie and Tulio are mine, however! :D I wanna claim TF as well, but seeing as he was modeled after Rick's big bronze dragon, I'll leave that be for now.**_

_**Okay, I am super excited about all of the reviews, follows and favorites! I was planning on not submitting this til later, but you guys put me in a good mood! So two things:**_

_**One: Thank you to hermes child awesomness, ChrisDaughterOfApollo, and Sabrialthazar for making my day :)  
**_

_**Two: Enjoy the new chapter. Be warned: Twin fluff has returned :D**_

* * *

**Six: Meet the Twins**

Leo motioned for Percy to follow through the swinging door. Percy obliged. As soon as they were inside, Percy didn't have a chance to look at the shop since Leo veered left towards another door. They went through and Percy found himself inside a semi-clean living room. It was cozy, that was for sure. A small two person couch sat in the middle facing a TV next to the door. A recliner sat a little way off. In between the couch and recliner sat a small coffee table with a bunch of paper and crayons on top. Percy looked around Leo and noticed the dining room and kitchen were visible. They were similarly small, with accommodations fit for three people.

_Small,_ Percy thought. _Almost like an apartment…_

Leo whistled. Percy jumped at the sudden noise. Leo glanced back and smiled before shouting, "Kids! C'mon out and meet _Papi_'s friend!"

Tiny-Leo's head came into view from behind the couch. He looked worried, his almond eyes shining. "Bad word," he said softly.

Leo went over and lifted his son up, holding him steady on his hip. Leo brought Tiny-Leo over towards Percy and said, "It's ok, _mijo_. Percy won't say that bad word again. Will ya, Perce?"

He shot a glare and Percy nodded. "Of course. I was just mad at your dad for a bit. But now everything's ok! What's your name?"

Tiny-Leo buried his face into Leo's arm shyly. Leo laughed. "His name is Tulio."

"Tulio?" Percy asked. Then, because his mouth sometimes decided to act without getting the brain's permission, he stupidly asked, "Not Julio?"

Leo tilted his head. "What?"

"Well, isn't Julio a normal name for…" He trailed off, realizing what he said was just…gods, he needed Annabeth to keep him under control!

Leo raised his eyebrows. "First of all, that's just _rude_." He held his free hand up and snapped, throwing his voice up an octave and adding an overdose of sass, holding back a smile. "Secondly, his name is more of a Spaniard name. Ever seen _**The Road to El Dorado**_, genius?"

Percy nodded. Lacy loved that movie. "Sorry…And may I point something out?"

He pointed to Tulio. "Tulio." He pointed to Leo. "Leo."

He did this a few more times before saying with a smile, "Two-Leo? Get it? Leo Two!"

Leo grinned. "You're funny. I didn't name him. Even though I…" his eyes clouded slightly. "…I can't remember who it was…But I still know _she's_ the one who named Tulio."

"She? You mean his mother?"

Tulio looked up at Leo. He pulled on Leo's sleeve. "What 'mother'?"

Leo looked like he had been struck. He stuttered as he answered, "I-I…Well…"

Percy intervened. "It's not important right now, bud." He ruffled the boy's curly hair. Tulio smiled sweetly.

Leo mouthed a 'thank you' before turning his attention to the stairs in the kitchen. "Esperanza Valdez! Get out here before _Papi_ comes and gets you!"

A small head popped out from behind the stairs. This child had two little ponytails on top of her head, each one held firm with white shiny hairbands with blue dolphins on them. She had her father's dark brown eyes.

Leo motioned for her to come over. The little girl obeyed. Percy didn't know how adorable other girls that weren't Lacy could be. He never saw one on the same level of cute as his own daughter in New York.

But Esperanza Valdez was _definitely_ on that level. She wore a cute, simple, spaghetti-strap white dress with blue dolphins speckled on it. One of the straps was loose and hung on her shoulder. On one of her knees was a smiley-face bandage. She had tiny blue sandals on, her toes painted blue. Percy noticed her fingernails were also painted blue. He appreciated her love of his favorite color.

Leo's daughter ran up and hid behind her father shyly. Percy waved at the two-year-old and said, "Hi there!"

Leo chuckled. "Espie, say hi to Percy."

Esperanza waved from behind Leo's leg and buried her face in his pants leg when she answered, "Hello."

Percy glanced at Leo. "Wow, man. Leo Valdez with _shy_ kids? What happened there?"

Leo scoffed. "It's still early. These two monsters could've given Gaea a run for her money."

They both laughed. Leo motioned to the chair. "Why don't you sit? Coffee?"

"Water's fine."

Leo put Tulio down and gently kicked Espie away. "Be right back."

As Leo went to the fridge, his twins struggled onto the couch and Percy sat down in the recliner. Percy watched the twins shuffle around, like they were looking for something.

"No TV!" Leo called from the kitchen. Percy noticed he had a remote in his hand.

"Aww!" The twins whined in sync.

Percy laughed. _Wow,_ he finally realized. _Leo's gotten so mature! He's alive, he's got a job…and he's a _dad!_ Holy Hera!_

"Wanna watch Lion King," Tulio muttered loudly. He pouted with his arms folded across his chest. "Watch Simba be king! Grrr at Scar for being mean! Sing with piggy!"

Espie mimicked her brother. "Lion King no good. Hate mean kitty throw off cliff. _Papi_, wanna watch Little Meh-meed! Please?"

"If _Papi_ says no, then no is the answer, Espie," Leo said flatly.

The twins pouted again, then started a silent raspberry war.

Suddenly, Percy's ADHD got the better of him again.

"Hey, Leo, I just thought of something."

"Hmm?"

"Your kids have a really good vocabulary. I don't think Lacy was this clear with sentences at their age. How'd you do it?"

He wasn't lying. The twins' speech wasn't very garbled like most children's at their age (_they have to have just turned two, right?_). They were very crisp and clear in speech. Percy wanted to know the secret so he could teach his up-and-coming baby.

Leo shrugged, his face still buried in the fridge.

"Dunno. They're too smart for their own good, I guess. Let 'em watch Dora/Diego, Handy Manny, Sesame Street, Disney stuff…I've never really had any other kids their age to compare the twins to, so I've never really thought about it."

Leo returned with two Sippy cups, a bottle of water and a Pepsi in tow. The remote was stashed in his front overalls pocket. He handed the twins their Sippies—blue dolphin (which Percy appreciated even more) for Espie and green dinosaur for Tulio—and tossed the water bottle to Percy.

"So…" Leo began, leaning over the top of the couch. "What brings you here? I figured you guys kinda just forgot about me over the years."

He said this with a grin, but Percy could tell that was just a cover.

Percy narrowed his eyes. "Like Hades we did! We searched for you for years! Wasted a ton of drachmas trying to IM you."

Leo tilted his head. "Huh. Never got any messages."

"Wouldn't connect."

Leo's eyes widened. "Ah. Well, I wonder why it wouldn't—"

_**BWONG!**_

A gong sounded. It's echo reverberated off the walls, making the room seem like it was shaking. Percy dropped his water and yelped in surprise. The twins just sipped on their Sippy cups and Leo took a swig of Pepsi like nothing happened.

Percy bent down and picked up his water.

Leo took another swig before heading for the door. "Sorry, Perce. Got a customer. Back in a flash."

"What was that gong?"

"The bell."

Percy gaped. Leo laughed and explained, "Like I can hear a tingly little bell while I'm working! A gong is much easier to hear. And it sounds cool."

The gong sounded again.

"BRB! Look after the kids for a sec, Perce?"

Percy nodded and Leo ran out. The twins looked at Percy with wide eyes, mouths still connected to the Sippies. Percy waved at them. Espie waved back. Tulio didn't.

"So, how old are you guys?"

They each held up two tiny fingers.

"And what do you like to do when your dad is working?"

Espie smiled and said, "Color! I like color!"

She pointed to the table next to Percy. He nodded and grabbed a bunch of papers and crayons. Most of the papers were torn from coloring books. He was impressed by how a lot of the pictures' colors were inside the lines. When Percy was two, he _definitely_ couldn't color inside the lines! Lacy was no better and she was three.

He handed Espie the papers and crayons. She leaped down from the couch and started coloring on the floor. "Those are really pretty," Percy said with a smile. "You're an awesome colorer!"

Espie beamed up at him and continued her color spree. Tulio continued to sip on his Sippy cup, eyeing Percy warily.

Percy turned to the boy and gave his sweetest smile. "What do you wanna do?"

Tulio hesitated before pointing to the shelf behind Percy. "Ball," was all he said.

Percy turned around and searched the shelf. Luckily, there was only one ball to find. It was a small bronze ball about the size of a baseball that looked like an armadillo rolled up. He grabbed it. It weighed more than Percy thought it would—about ten pounds more! He almost absent-mindedly tossed it to Tulio when the boy shouted, "NO THROW!"

Percy paused, bewildered at the sudden outburst. He shook himself and leaned over to hand the bronze baseball to Tulio. Tulio grabbed it with both hands. Percy was impressed the little two-year-old could lift it so easily.

"TF no like throw," Tulio muttered.

"TF?"

Tulio ignored Percy and mumbled to the ball, "TF1 wake up."

Suddenly the ball opened. It unwound itself like a roly-poly. Percy sucked in his breath. In the boy's hands was now a tiny bronze dragon with interlocking scales, blunt claws and tiny horns. It's little ruby eyes glowed as it squirmed around. The dragon wound its way up Tulio's arm and came to rest on the boy's shoulder, nuzzling and purr-whirring. Percy noticed the little bronze dragon's resemblance to a certain figurehead from the Argo II and figured out what TF stood for: Tiny Festus.

Tulio grinned. "Morning! Want juice?"

TF whirred in approval. Tulio held up his Sippy and TF's metal tongue flicked out and reshaped into a little straw. Its straw tongue dipped into the Sippy cup's sipper. Percy heard slurping sounds.

"It likes juice?" he ventured.

"Only apple," Tulio answered, smiling proudly. "TF no like orange or grape. Think they yucky."

TF creaked in agreement.

Espie didn't say anything, keeping to her coloring, occasionally taking a swig of her Sippy. Tulio took TF off his shoulder and began stroking it, quietly watching his sister color.

Percy exhaled. _Well, so far so good._ He was thankful he had practice with his own daughter. He couldn't imagine babysitting these two—even for a few minutes—without prior kid-know-how.

But then again…

Percy straightened up and realized something. Leo had been taking care of the twins _alone_! Percy couldn't have handled Lacy on his own, that was for sure. Without Annabeth he wouldn't have survived the first year! Taking care of a kid was a two-person job.

Yet here they were: two kids—twins, even—being taken care of by one parent that had to be working most of the time. Two kids, at the age of two, behaving while their dad worked in the next room. If Percy and Annabeth had left Lacy alone, their daughter would flip out and become a tantrum-tornado. Even babysitters didn't last very long before calling for the Jacksons to come home. From what Percy could tell, Leo had done an excellent job of raising his twins! _Go Leo…_

"Why you smell funny?"

Percy jumped at the sudden question. Tulio was staring at him with big eyes. TF was nesting on his lap.

"Sorry. Um…what?"

TF clicked and squeaked. Tulio nodded. "TF say you smell funny. Why?"

Espie looked up at this, curious. Percy was a little taken aback at the question. Of course, he was also taken aback by the fact Tulio could understand the tiny automaton, but he let that slide. "Well…what…what do you mean 'smell funny'?"

"TF say you smell like…" he paused, letting TF click and whirr. "…seawater?"

Percy exhaled. He didn't want to be the one to break the demigod world to them. "Uh, I think that's more of a question for your dad…"

"You like _Papi_?" Espie asked. "Do fire?"

_Oh, so they _do_ know?_ "Well, no. I can't 'do fire' like your dad. I do…water."

He uncapped the water bottle and, using his powers, willed the water to come out. He created a few shapes—horses, cats and dogs—before willing it back into the bottle.

The twins' expressions were priceless. Their mouths hung open like codfish, their eyes as big as saucers. "Whoooaaaah!" they gasped in sync.

Percy laughed. "Yup. It's pretty cool, huh?"

The twins nodded furiously. "Do more," Espie said enthusiastically, forgetting about her coloring book. She scrambled back onto the couch and both twins leaned in close, eyes widening.

Percy smiled and did a few tricks with the water: making shapes, tossing it around, juggling, even splashing the twins (though TF did not approve).

The gong sounded suddenly, making Percy lose his concentration. The water splashed onto the floor. The twins went "Umm-um-um" in sing-song sync while Percy cleaned up.

Percy looked at the clock on the wall. It read 8:30 AM. Percy had been babysitting the kids for a whole hour and didn't even realize it! _Well, that's ADHD for you…_

The gong rang through the air again. Percy whistled at the kind of work Leo had. It was no wonder the guy hadn't thought about contacting his old friends—the last three years, anyway.

But then the gong sounded a third time.

This time the twins looked confused. Percy heard Espie mutter in Tulio's ear, "_Papi _ never let ring three times."

Oh?

"Kids," Percy started. "If you want, I can go check on your dad."

The twins nodded, looking nervous now. Percy told them to stay put and thanked Poseidon that they ran past the kitchen and disappeared up the stairs.

Percy made his way through the swinging door back into the shop. He instantly sensed something was wrong. The shop, which was brightly lit earlier, was now dark and gloomy. When the gong sounded this time—much louder in this room—Percy just about jumped out of his skin. He went over to the front door and slowly walked inside.

Percy relaxed slightly. Standing on the other side of the counter was a familiar face:

Hazel!

* * *

_**A/N: And there we have it. I'm trying to stretch out my posting times, but you guys and your awesomeness are making it hard! D:**_

_**So, I hope you enjoyed this longer chapter. Next will be shorter, but it will be in Hazel's POV!**_


	8. Hello and Goodbye

_**You guys are killing me. You really are. I'm loving all the favs and reviews, I really am! :)**_

_**But the real reason I'm posting 6 hours after the last chapter is that I didn't have to go to work today (Don't know why, honestly, I showed up with my coworkers and they said 'go away have a good weekend, the building is secured for the day'). So I got really excited and decided to come back and post another chapter :D Three day weekend for me, extra-quick chapter update for you guys! WIN-WIN!**_

_**You're gonna have to deal with this chapter being as short as me, though D: Oh well!**_

_**And once again: I don't own anything except the Valdez twins, who aren't even in this chapter, and one little Zhang (you'll see who it is below)**_

* * *

**Seven: Hello and Goodbye**

When Percy Jackson entered the room, Hazel was more than surprised. Judging by the sign, she was expecting…well, _Leo_ to walk out. But Percy?

"What are you doing here," they both asked in unison.

"Jinx," Percy quickly added. "You owe me a soda."

Hazel grumbled. "Whatever. Why are you here in Houston?"

"I assume you got a note, too?" Percy reached into his pocket, pulling out a blue sticky note. She nodded and pulled out a red sticky note that had been attached to her bedside table yesterday. It had read "_Go to this address. Wait inside for further instructions. –P._" On the back had been the address.

When Hazel had arrived outside on Arion, jewels had instantly appeared due to stress. The sign with Leo's name on it nearly had her fainting. She had been one of the last of the Six to give up on Leo living. Just over a year ago she finally came to terms with it and brought Frank and their 15-month-old child to visit Leo's honorary gravestone in New York. While Frank held their boy, Hazel cried hysterically. It was the first time seeing his grave. The first time seeing anything that reminded her of his…_death_. It hurt her intensely.

"Yes, I did get the note," she replied. "I assume my 'P.' means Pluto, and yours Poseidon. But why are we here, I wonder?"

Percy looked like he was about so say something, but then caught himself and glanced back to the door from whence he came. He looked spooked and Hazel was awfully curious about what he was hiding.

But then she thought about her own secret.

Hazel had gotten the note yesterday, but she didn't inform Percy of the dream. Not two nights before the note appeared, she'd had a dream of Leo and Sammy. It wasn't a nightmare, and it didn't feel like a warning (which made Hazel feel a little better, considering demigods and their luck with dream warnings), but it was a little hard to think about. Hazel hadn't yet told Frank about it, worried he might feel apprehensive about her dreaming of her old boyfriend and Frank's almost-love rival at the same time. He was still a little sore about that, but had seemed to let it go after she took his name and became Hazel Zhang. He had even suggested their son's name, much to her surprise: Samuel—otherwise known as Sammy—Zhang.

Hazel took a second to remember her dream.

* * *

_The Valdez boys were standing on either side of Hazel, each about ten feet away. Leo was still fifteen—well, he was sixteen following the events of the Giant War, but Hazel always remembered him as a fifteen-year-old. He was wearing his usual mechanic's outfit—orange camp t-shirt under a not-white/brown long-sleeved shirt, brown pants held up with suspenders—with the tool belt hanging off his skinny waist. Grease was smeared all over him. Sammy was also just as young as she remembered, wearing a hand-me-down flannel shirt, worn but clean slacks, and a grey cap that made him look like a jockey. Both of them were smiling at her, waving. Their smiles and waves were slightly different, though._

_Sammy's smile was accepting. He was waving goodbye, Hazel knew. She could hear him whisper, "I never forgot you. I'm okay with this, though. I'm okay. I'm okay." As he said this, Sammy grew older, his skin becoming wrinkled and leathery, his beautiful curly black hair graying, eventually turning completely white. "I'm okay." Sammy's voice became scratchy with age. Hazel wanted to cry, but couldn't find the tears._

_Leo's smile, however, was sad. It was like he missed her. For the first time, Hazel noticed his feet were rooted to the ground—literally. Both feet were covered up to the calf in soft earth and roots. His legs twitched a few times, like he was trying to get out. Hazel tried to walk toward him but her legs also wouldn't move. Nothing of hers would. She watched him as he waved. She thought he was also waving goodbye, like his predecessor, but then heard him whisper, "Sorry, Hazel. I never meant to hurt you, but I had to go. So don't hurt me too much. I'm okay. I'm okay."_

_Then Leo, while echoing his great-grandfather's 'I'm okay', also began to age. His hair grew out, getting wavier. Stubble appeared on his upper lip and chin. His scrawny body became slightly more muscular. Though the tool belt and grease didn't leave, Leo's outfit changed to a simple white t-shirt and jean overalls. His eyes clouded slightly._

"_I'm okay." He repeated, his voice now taking on a slight gruff._

_It was then that Hazel realized why it was that Leo was waving at her. He wasn't waving goodbye._

_He was waving hello…_

* * *

"Hazel?"

Hazel snapped out of her trance, shaking away the dream. "Huh?"

The son of Poseidon was staring at her apprehensively. "Where's Frank?"

"In a hotel with Sammy." Percy looked surprised at this. "I didn't want them to come along, but Frank insisted he at least come to Houston with me. And Sammy's here because we couldn't find a babysitter at such short notice."

Percy nodded. Hazel felt the need to ask, "How are Annabeth and Lacy?"

"Fine. Annabeth is back home, a little pissed that she couldn't come along, but she's keeping Lacy in check. Hopefully."

They both chuckled at this. Hazel knew that Lacy could be a handful like her father. She was willing to bet the three-year-old was going to take after Percy in more than just attitude—meaning Lacy would be showing Poseidon powers sooner or later.

"So," Hazel ventured. "Leo's here, isn't he?"

Percy hesitated before nodding. Hazel felt a mixture of emotions hit her. Joy, anger, and fear were the most overwhelming. Joy because Hazel was happy Leo was alive; Anger because she was extremely pissed at said Latino who did not contact anyone for eight years; Fear because Percy was looking really worried about something.

"I just got here about an hour ago," Percy continued, "and _believe_ me, he's been a busy guy. I can kinda understand why he didn't contact us. But he doesn't know why we couldn't connect with him, so I wouldn't get too angry about it if I were you."

He seemed apprehensive at this. Hazel nodded. "Fine. So where is he?"

Percy tensed again when a _CLANG_ sounded from the other room. Hazel felt her battle instincts flare up and pulled out her cavalry sword. Percy uncapped Riptide, nodding, and led her through the threshold.

* * *

_**A/N: *legasp* Wha's gonna happen!? Oh no, Leo! D:**_


	9. Ambush in the Forge

_**I own nothing you recognize as canon.**_

_**Have fun with another short chapter! I promise there will be longer ones in the future. And fair warning, I am NOT an action writer, so what you get in this chapter is pretty much how much I can describe when it comes to fights. I suck at it D:**_

* * *

**Eight: Ambush in the Forge**

Hazel wasn't expecting the machine shop to look so dark. She had assumed it would be brightly lit, or at least have a lamp or two on.

Percy felt around for a light switch. He found one and flicked it.

Nothing happened.

"Great," Percy mumbled. "Could do with a little Leo-light-source right about now."

Hazel let her metal-sensing powers extend and nearly got vertigo. _Holy Pluto, Leo's got a ton of metal in here! Hang on, that's…Celestial Bronze _and_ Imperial Gold! Where'd he put it all? There isn't any in here…_

She focused on them. Hazel grabbed Percy and led him through the maze of broken cars and discarded mortal metals. It was slightly scary in there. There were no windows to provide natural light. Every broken item seemed like a monster waiting to pounce. Hazel tried not to think about some sort of monster popping out and getting them. It felt like a bad horror movie.

They reached the back of the shop. An archway in the wall extended over their heads. Hazel peeked through.

This room was huge—well, bigger than the shop before, at least. It was dimly lit by smoldering fires in various pits around the room. Most of the fire pits had weapons and various other bronze and gold items placed haphazardly around them.

A large bronze dragon was lying in a special carved out pit nearby, its ruby eyes dim. A dozen wires and tubes were hooked into it, mainly its head. Half the wires were severed. About thirty screens surrounded the metal dragon, each either black or filled with static.

"Festus," Percy gasped. "So that's where he went."

Hazel almost retorted "Where else would Festus go if not with Leo" when a sudden screech and a crash erupted from the back of the forge.

Percy and Hazel snuck around Festus and the various weapons strewn around the room. The screech had come from behind a huge overturned table—the table was probably what had crashed. The duo crouched there. Another screech rang out, the atmosphere heated up and a red glow surrounded the room. Then a sickening _crunch_ resounded, followed by a _fwump_. The glow died and the atmosphere cooled considerably.

Hazel snuck a peek over the table.

Three emposai were standing in a loose circle half-circle, facing away from Hazel and Percy. One of them was holding a bloodied hammer, beaming proudly.

"Fire-proof," she half-shouted. "He should have been made hammer-proof."

The emposai cackled. Two of them clapped. After a couple of seconds, Hazel finally saw what they were surrounding.

A fourth empousa crouched triumphantly on the back of an unconscious man. The man was lying face-down on the ground. Hazel could see a pool of blood beginning to form around the man's head, flowing from a gash in the back of his head. The blood soaked his hair.

His _curly_ hair.

Hazel held back a gasp and crouched back down. Percy crouched with her.

"We've got to save him," Hazel whispered.

Percy nodded, determination in his eyes.

The emposai cackled again and the duo peeked over once more.

The middle empousa was slurping up the man's blood off the floor hungrily. The surrounding emposai were laughing and shifting back and forth on their donkey-automaton feet, patiently waiting for their turn.

"I want some now, Kelli!" shouted the one holding the hammer. She was the youngest of them, it seemed.

Percy growled next to Hazel. "Kelli," he breathed. "Gods, I hate her."

Kelli the empousa growled, "You'll get some when I say you get some! I'm starving and this guy's blood is just…" she paused to smile. "…_delightful_." She snickered and moved her head to the man's neck. She held up the man's head by his hair and kept his neck clear.

One look at the unconscious man and Hazel had no doubt. It was Leo: The same aged Leo that had appeared in her dream!

And he was in trouble. Kelli bared her huge fangs and sank them into Leo's neck. Leo's face contorted in pain, the color slowly draining from his skin. A whimper escaped his lips.

Hazel saw red. Without even discussing a proper plan with Percy she burst out from behind the table, screaming bloody murder.

Percy followed instantly, slashing at the nearest empousa—the one with the hammer—instantly turning her to dust. The other two were so stunned that they didn't even have time to register Percy slashing them to dust.

Hazel barreled into Kelli, dislodging her from Leo's neck. She took her long sword and stabbed Kelli right in the stomach. Kelli screeched in pain and exploded. Golden dust flew everywhere.

Hazel took deep breaths before turning. She noticed the other emposai were just piles of dust, too. _Well_, she thought. _We both may be out of practice, but we still got it! Don't mess with the New Romans or New Athenians!_

She exhaled as Percy knelt down beside Leo and force-fed the mechanic a square of ambrosia. Hazel helped keep Leo's head up while Percy reached into Leo's magical tool belt and pulled out some gauze.

As his head was being wrapped, Leo groaned. He had paled even more and still hadn't woken up.

"Leo," Hazel whispered, still holding Leo's head. "Come on. You can do it. You can survive this."

His breathing became shallow, the puncture wounds on his neck were swelling to enormous sizes and his veins/arteries were showing through his paling skin. Hazel brought out some nectar and smeared it on the bite, wincing as she felt the dull throb of his heartbeat through the swollen lumps. She noted how Leo's forehead had a semi-deep slash cutting down just below his hairline. Leo's left foot was twisted in a weird way, and his arm was riddled with emposai claw-marks.

"Come on, big guy," Percy muttered. "Stay here. Don't you dare leave us a second time."

Leo's face suddenly slackened and his body slumped further. His chest stilled.

"Leo?" Percy said, his voice edged with worry. "Leo?" He slapped Leo in the cheeks, hoping the Latino would open his eyes.

He didn't.

Hazel panicked and held her hand out above Leo's nose and mouth. She felt like screaming.

Leo had stopped breathing.

* * *

_**A/N: Imma let you hang on that cliffy. Aren't I mean? I update so you can get past the first cliffy, and then make you encounter ANOTHER, very worse, one! :D**_


	10. I Dream of Who?

_**I am laughing my ass off right now! It's too good! It feels AWESOME to be on this end of the 'NOOO' comments! xD You guys are just hilarious, you really are!**_

_**BUT!**_

_**You guys aren't gonna like this...but...this chapter...isn't about what happens next D: You must wait LONGER to find out what happens to Leo! Oh no! *cries***_

_**But it IS a major plot point. So, there! :P**_

_**Disclaimer: There is nothing in this chapter that I rightfully own.**_

* * *

**Nine: I Dream of…Who?**

_Leo woke up in a hotel bed. He was wrapped up in green and gold blankets, his head resting on soft white pillows. He peeked under the covers and slightly blushed. He was…well, buck naked! He never slept in the nude, so it kinda freaked him out._

_Leo saw his boxers on the floor and reached for them, still keeping wrapped up in his nest of sheets. As soon as his boxers were on, he stretched and cracked his back. He felt extremely sore and slightly hung over._

_Leo had the sudden urge to look over and saw the other side of the bed unoccupied, yet it looked like it had held someone there just recently. For some reason, that didn't make Leo confused or angry—just sad. Sad like his whole world had been destroyed. He felt tears running down his cheeks._

"_Time to wake up, boy."_

_The voice made him jump. Leo turned around and saw his father standing in the bathroom doorway, his arms crossed._

_Leo wanted to reply but his voice cracked and he coughed instead._

"_Your five-year dream is over, son," Hephaestus said sadly. "It's time to wake up. Time to face reality again."_

_Leo nodded, wiping the tears from his eyes. Wait, why was he crying? Was it about the unoccupied side of the bed? He shook his head, trying to remember._

_His head throbbed painfully. When Leo tried to remember who it was he had spent the last night—no, wait, the last five years—with, his vision tunneled and his brain pounded against his skull. Leo curled up into a ball, hugging his knees to his chest, trying to remember. Who was it!? His vision clouded over—literally. He was surrounded by white fog now, and it was choking him. Leo coughed, gasping for air. He couldn't breathe!_

_A huge hand arrived on his shoulder. Leo heard a gruff voice call out, "Stop it, Leo. You won't remember. You're not allowed to remember. This wasn't in our original conditions, but she made sure that you wouldn't remember her. Settle down and accept it."_

_Leo cleared his mind. The fog slowly disappeared. He exhaled, throat clear._

"_Who won't let me remember her?"_

_Hephaestus shook his head. "Even her name will hurt you. All you can do now is go home." He waved his hand and two plane tickets appeared on the bed. Leo held them up. One ticket was to New York. The other was to Houston. Both were one-way tickets from where he was now: Madrid, Spain._

"_What…?" he began._

"_This is part of a gift to you," his father said. "You're 21 as of yesterday, son. Should you, ah, choose to go to Houston, there will be a place and a job waiting for you (Festus shall be there as well). That would be my birthday present to you. Should you choose New York…well, I can always move the place. But I figured you wouldn't want to face your friends just yet…"_

"_Why not?" Leo snapped. "I haven't seen them in five years! Of course I'd wanna see them again!"_

"_You haven't seen them in five years," the god repeated. "Let me inform you that the person you've forgotten has been your reason for not seeing the demigods."_

_Leo paused. _Wait,_ he thought. _If they start asking me questions about where I've been, I'll try to remember and…

"_The pain will be too hard for you right now, boy," Hephaestus finished, reading his mind. "You must give the spell time to settle. Eventually, it might weaken. This is why I'm offering up Houston as an alternative."_

"_But…" Leo stammered. "What about…my pain in Houston? I haven't been there since…" He didn't finish the sentence. Leo's heart rose into his throat._

_Hephaestus smiled—he actually _smiled_—before answering, "You know now it was not your fault. I know you can handle it. You are much stronger than you used to be."_

_Before Leo could protest, Hephaestus grunted and turned away. "Oh," he said. "And happy birthday, boy."_

_And in a bright flash of light, the god of blacksmiths was gone._

_Leo looked over the plane tickets again. He held the Houston ticket up first. It felt heavier than the New York ticket. Leo held it to his forehead and sighed. _Would it be terrible for me to go back?_ he thought. _I'm an adult now, so it's not like they can put me in the system if someone recognizes me...But, I don't think I can handle the memories of Mom if I'm so close...Should I go?

_Leo sighed and took the New York ticket and inspected it from all angles._

If I go home,_ he thought,_ I'd have to face my friends. I haven't even contacted them in five years. Would they still be my friends? Would they still like me? Would I be able to handle the pain of trying to tell them where I've been?

_His head throbbed at the thought. It hurt so much to try and remember. He shook his head and cleared his mind. The pain ebbed._

_Leo weighed the two tickets. Each destination would bring him pain, but in each one he could find a bit of happiness. Which pain would be easier, though? He sighed and held a single ticket in front of him after a few minutes of arguing with himself._

"_I'm not ready yet," he murmured to himself. "Maybe one day I will be. But not today."_

_He then ripped the New York ticket in half._

* * *

_**A/N: Oh, what? The past? :O And here you thought you'd get to see what happens to Leo. You shall find out in the next chapter, though.**_

_**So, a little more insight on Leo's past. Confusing, isn't it? But now we know how he ended up in Houston, so that's something!**_


	11. Manic Cheerleaders and Useless Mechanics

_**Disclaimer: I only own Tulio and Esperanza Grace. Rick owns the rest of them!**_

_**Alrighty, people! We're back to the present, now! Is Leo okay? Answer: Well this story wouldn't happen without him, so...**_

* * *

**Ten: Manic Cheerleaders and Useless Mechanics**

Leo's head hurt. Like, _seriously_ hurt. It was like an ogre had decided to either tap dance inside his head or to use his head as a maraca. _Holy Hera, what a migraine!_ Leo tried opening his eyes, but the light was just too painful and squeezed them shut immediately. He reached up with a shaky hand and gingerly touched his head.

Bandages? _Outstanding. Just outstanding._ He exhaled. _Alright, think. What happened? I remember…_

Leo thought back to Percy arriving and cussing him out. To him introducing his old friend to the twins. To the gong sounding…

Ah, that's it. The customers in the waiting room.

* * *

_Leo had thought it strange, considering his monster alarms didn't go off, that eight emposai—yes, he could tell, he wasn't stupid—had just waltzed right into his shop. They were in their teenage cheerleader forms, giggling and whispering._

_Leo had almost gotten a hammer out of his tool belt to deal with them when the leader cast the spell on him. Leo prided himself on charmspeak resistance (thanks to Piper 'practicing' on him during the war). But the empousa that enchanted him was way too strong. She asked him to bring her and her friends to the forge so they wouldn't be interrupted and he 'happily' obliged._

_They had made it halfway through the shop before Leo snapped out of it. It had taken a lot of willpower to slap himself in the face, but it worked. The spell was lifted. And that started the hour-long fight._

_He had done well, taking down four of the emposai, leading and egging them all on while weaving through the shop. Leo made sure not to let them get near the house door. Sure, Percy was there and he could help, but then the kids would be in danger. Leo would never _ever_ put them in danger._

_He hadn't gotten out without injuries. His left arm had some pretty nasty slashes and he was fairly certain that his ankle was twisted wrong. He couldn't feel it, though—too much adrenaline prevented that. Though, in all honesty, Leo knew he was tiring quickly. Blood trickled into his eye from a gash on his forehead. That gash wasn't deep, he reckoned, or else he'd feel dizzy from blood loss. Right? And was his stomach bleeding? Oh well…_

_He thanked his father silently that he had been fire-resistant, or else the emposai's flaming hair might have been an issue. Of course, that meant they were also fire-resistant and that made his fire powers useless. But, fire or no fire, he still was still doing well._

_It all went wrong as soon as the emposai had backed him into the forge._

_Ok, Leo had to admit that he was a _tad_ rusty when it came to monster fighting. He figured Percy or Jason would've killed all of them by _now_. Most of the time Leo's security system did the job and he would make sure all the traps reset properly every time they went off. So, when he saw Festus—his security system HQ—deactivated and all the security cameras sabotaged, he couldn't help feel pissed and dismayed at the same time._

_Pissed because the stupid cheerleader vampires had vandalized his beautiful creation._

_Dismayed because he now was trapped inside a weapons forge with four hungry emposai._

_The thought of fighting inside an area with unlimited swords at one's disposal—to _anyone_ else—would've been comforting but no; Leo had to be difficult! He made swords. He didn't fight with them. Wasn't his style. All the swords in his forge were pretty awesome—ok, they were kick-ass swords and Leo was freakin' proud of 'em—but they were useless in the hands of the 24-year-old mechanic._

_Leo raised his dust-splattered hammer with his good arm. He was just about to smash the first empousa's face in when the gong sounded. He hesitated, if only for a second, and instantly regretted it._

_The hammer was knocked out of his hand as the lead empousa tackled him to the ground. The two wrestled on the ground for what felt like hours, knocking over sword cases, axe shelves and blueprints tables. The other three emposai watched on, like they were waiting for a chance to pounce onto Leo should he shake the leader. Leo was sure the gong had sounded three more times during their wrestling match._

_In a last stitch effort Leo engulfed himself in flames, but the empousa held strong, screeching like a harpy._

_Then the hammer came down onto Leo's head and that was it._

* * *

Leo tried opening his eyes again. Little by little, the migraine allowed him to look into the light-filled room.

He was in his bed, tucked gently into the covers and sheets. He was lying in a semi-sitting position, with about ten pillows kindly keeping him comfortable. Leo slowly turned his head and saw a card next to him on the bed. Well, it was actually a picture from Espie's coloring book: a pretty pink dolphin. There were words scrawled above it. Judging by the hand writing, and by the fact his children were too young to actually write anything yet, it was most likely Percy who wrote them for the kids: _**Get well soon, **_**Papi.** And just below the dolphin were the twins' names, in extremely huge and bad 2-year-old-like writing: _**Tulio +**__**Essp**_(crossed out)_** Esip**_(also crossed out) _**Espy**_(close enough)

Leo chuckled at Esperanza's scribbles, then winced at the pain flaring in his abdomen. _Geeze,_ Leo thought._ Percy shows up and I become the damsel in distress. How embarrassing…_

He inspected his body. His ankle was splinted, left arm bandaged, and stomach wrapped. Besides the stomach, Leo didn't feel any pain and assumed Percy had given him some nectar or ambrosia. He lifted his good hand and rubbed his neck.

Ok, Ouch.

As soon as his fingers even brushed the right side of his neck, searing pain flared through his neck veins. A shockwave shot down his spine. Leo bit back a scream. He took his fingers away and dared not touch that for a while.

A hissing noise grabbed his attention. Leo looked up and saw TF1 staring down at him from the bed frame. Steam vented out from its joints as it cocked its head, examining the Latino.

Leo smiled. TF1 was his very first miniature Festus prototype. Originally, it was to be a part of the giant swarm of Tiny Festuses (Marks 1-375) that served as a monster defense around the house. However, TF1 stubbornly decided it wanted to be different and refused to serve on security detail. Leo couldn't help but feel a little annoyed that his creation had gained such a personality, so he toned the artificial personality part down in the next TF designs.

So, Leo found another purpose: TF1 became a baby monitor when the twins first arrived. Should one or both of the twins cry during the night, it would fly off and wake Leo. Now TF was watching over Leo, patiently waiting for him to cry out. _Oh how the tables have turned!_

"Hey, TF," he croaked, feeling his neck throb at every word. "You my babysitter?"

TF whirred and hissed. Leo continued, "Go get the kids, then. _Papi_'s awake now."

TF took off from the bed frame and flew into the hall. Leo wondered how TF had been activated, as he had put the dragon (in ball form) on the shelf high enough to keep it away from Tulio—aka: the Leo in the making. Then it hit him. _Tulio got Percy to get TF off the shelf_._ The little weasel…_

Squeals erupted from downstairs, followed by the mad pounding of feet. Leo braced himself as the twins burst into the room. They scrambled onto the bed, both yelling, "_Papi_!"

Tulio and Espie tried to climb onto their father, but as soon as one of them touched his stomach, Leo recoiled. He held his tongue, but the twins could see their father's pain.

"_Papi_ have owie," Tulio noted.

"No get better?" Espie asked, pouting.

Leo smiled. "_Papi_ has a lot of owies, guys. I think I need about a million kisses before I feel better!"

The twins latched onto that thought. They immediately began smothering Leo in kisses, so much so that he couldn't breathe. Tulio began kissing his abdomen, which tickled, and Espie kissed his ankle furiously. Leo couldn't help but laugh. So he was a teensy ticklish…no problem with that in the least.

Suddenly, he felt Tulio inch closer to his neck. Before he could protest, his son kissed the spot that had previously sent searing pain down his body.

It didn't even hurt.

Leo's neck, which was throbbing before, now felt completely normal. He took his good hand and rubbed his neck. No pain. Not even a prick!

He glanced over at his son. Tulio was smiling, giving his best impish grin. "Kiss it better!"

_Indeed_. Leo blinked and blamed the sudden healing on ambrosia.

"Aww, that's adorable!"

Leo jumped at the sudden voice. He looked at the doorway. Percy was standing there with a smug look on his face, his arms crossed. "Seriously, it's cute! I didn't know you had that side, Leo."

Leo grinned. "There's a lot about me you don't know, Horse Whisperer. Like how awesome the super-sized McShizzle has gotten over the years! Or how I can make great enchiladas!"

Espie shot up at this. "Ench-lada! Want lunch! Want Ench-lada!"

Tulio shoved Espie off the bed with pompous flair. "Taco better!"

Percy and Leo chuckled as the twins began to argue about dinner. Percy sat down at the foot of the bed. "Guess you're feeling better?"

"Better than before, I guess," Leo answered. "Thanks for the rescue. What happened anyway?"

"You died."

Leo waited for the punchline. It didn't come. Percy didn't laugh. "Pardon?"

"We're pretty sure you died for a few minutes, man," Percy explained. "You had stopped breathing. But then, you gasped and started breathing again."

Leo blinked. Then he smiled. "Well, you can't get rid of me _that_ easily! I'm Leo Freakin' Valdez! Death can't stop me! Mwa ha ha!"

"I would love for you to tell my father that," came a new voice. Leo glanced around Percy and blinked.

"Hazel?" he asked, completely shocked. "Hazel Levesque? Is that you?"

Hazel moved over to the bed but didn't sit down. She had one of the biggest scowls Leo had ever seen on her face. Leo couldn't remember her _ever _showing that much of a negative emotion before. Suddenly pain seared across Leo's face and it took him a second to realize that he had been slapped. And then, before he could say something else, the other side of his face burned from a second slap.

"I'll make you wish you _did _die, Valdez, should you ever do something so stupid again!" she screamed, making the twins flinch. Leo stared at her in complete and utter shock. Percy's eyebrows raised slightly.

"S-stupid…" Leo echoed. "Specifically…"

"Specifically leaving without warning, leaving no note, not contacting, and just plain ignoring us for eight years!"

"Hazel, we talked about this," Percy warned.

"No, no," Leo held up his hand. "I deserve it. She's not wrong…"

Hazel took a deep breath, closing her eyes, like she was in a yoga studio. Then, when she opened her eyes, she smiled. "I'm good. I got that out of my system." She paused, her golden eyes sparkling. "For now."

Leo shuddered.

"Oh, and by the way," Hazel continued. "It's Zhang now." She held up her left hand, which now had a simple golden band occupying the ring finger.

Leo grinned. "Well congrats on that! You were the one that proposed, right? I can't imagine Frank actually raising up the nerve to do it!"

Hazel lightly punched him on the shoulder. "Shut up, Valdez."

Leo rubbed his shoulder in mock-pain. "Ow, woman! Easy on the goods! Ain't I beat up enough?"

"It never seemed to hinder you before," Percy interjected, smiling.

"TACO!"

The sudden outburst made all three demigods jump.

Tulio was sitting triumphantly on the bed, looking down at his sister, kicking her every time she tried to clamber back up. "Taco better! I get bed! You stinker! Nya nya!" he mocked, sticking his tongue out and swiveling his hips as he sat.

Espie growled and pounded her fists against the bed. She stomped her feet. Leo could just feel the tantrum rising. His children hadn't hit the tantrum stage yet, to Leo's relief, but he could sense Espie was about to have her first one. _This isn't going to bode well, is it?_ he thought to himself as Espie screamed, "MEAN TUI! YOU MEAN! MEAN, MEAN, MEAN, MEAN, MEAN!"

The temperature in the room rose dramatically.

Percy's forehead was beaded with sweat.

Hazel began to fan herself with her hand.

"Phew," Percy sighed, wiping the sweat from his face. "Who turned up the heat?"

Leo gulped. _Shit! You're kidding me! Shit shit shit shit SHIT!_

Just as that curse was about to come out of Leo's mouth, Esperanza Grace Valdez _exploded_ into flames.

* * *

_**D:**_


	12. Because the World Needs More

_**Recap: Esperanza explodes and becomes a human bonfire. ****End recap**_

_**All of your reactions to the past few chapters have made me laugh so hard! You make me feel so much better about my story! :D**_

_**Disclaimer: Nope. Just nope. Espie and Tulio, yes. Everyone else? Nope.**_

* * *

**Eleven: Because the World Needs More**

Well it wasn't called the 'terrible twos' for nothing; that was for _damn_ sure.

Ignoring the pain in his arm, Leo immediately jumped forward. His daughter was engulfed in white-hot flames, screaming. Tulio had been knocked away from the sheer force of his sister's explosion and was now whimpering on the other side of the bed.

Leo tumbled out of bed (painfully) and grabbed his baby girl, pulling her into a hug. He tried to keep his voice steady. "Espie, c'mon. Calm down. _Papi _told you not to fight with your brother—"

"TUI STARTED IT!" Espie kept screaming, her flames growing more intense. Her eyes were squeezed shut. "HE ALWAYS START IT!"

"Nuh-uh," Tulio retorted, suddenly forgetting about his sister's sudden likeness to a bomb. "Espie always start! AN' NO CALL ME TUI!"

"YEAH-HUH, TUI!" Espie shot back. Temperatures soared so high even Leo could feel sweat starting to trickle down his back. "TUI! TUI! TUI! TUI! TUI—"

Leo snapped. He hated to show this side and hadn't done it in a while, but—

"ESPERANZA GRACE VALDEZ!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, holding his daughter an arm's length away from him. "ENOUGH!"

That made Esperanza open her eyes. She rarely saw her _Papi_ angry, but when he was angry…he was _angry_! His brown eyes glared at her with such intensity it could make fire seem as cold as snow. She immediately dropped her argument and her gaze.

But then she registered the searing heat and blazing fire that was engulfing her. Her eyes widened.

Before she could scream in terror, Leo hugged her again. He stroked her burning hair, well aware that he was now completely engulfed as well.

"Shh," he cooed, keeping his voice low. "Alright. Settle down, Espie. Deep breaths."

"_P-Papi_…" she began to panic. Her shoulders shook as she tried to breath. "F-fire!"

Leo looked her right in the eye. He knew how essential it was to keep her calm now. Memories of a certain workshop fire blazed through his brain, but he forcefully pushed that away. He was _not_ going to have history repeat itself through his daughter."I know, sweetie. It's scary. But it doesn't have to be. If you calm down and focus, it'll go away. I promise. I can help."

Leo began to take deep breaths. Espie mimicked her father, not breaking eye contact. At the same time, Leo concentrated on the flames, willing them to go out. Slowly, but surely, the fire began to recede. Finally, it sputtered and died, leaving the father and daughter smoking and kneeling on the floor.

"There," Leo finally said. "It went away. See?"

Espie burst into tears. She hugged her father, clutching his shirt with her tiny fists. "_Papi_! I sorry! I do fire and be bad?"

Leo laughed. He rubbed her back. "No, sweetie. It's not bad. You're a good girl. You put out your fire like a big girl. That's good!" Ok, so he didn't really want to dishearten her. Better to let her believe she did it with breathing alone now and encourage her to be able to do it on her own than to make her always rely on him to put out the fire.

Then he straightened up and hardened his gaze. "But I still don't want you yelling at Tulio." He glanced quickly at Tulio, thankful the other twin hadn't had a similar reaction. One fire-using twin was enough. "That goes for you, too, _mijo_. You are both siblings. Treat each other as such, 'Kay?"

The twins both nodded, Espie adding in an "I sorry" before hugging her father once more.

Percy coughed. "Way to handle that, bud. Like a freakin' boss!"

Leo turned to the son of Poseidon, who was nodding approvingly. Leo snorted.

Hazel stood perfectly still. "I—that was—how did she not burn the house down?"

"Sometimes even I catch fire without realizing," Leo said, shrugging. He remembered being younger and having nightmares, waking up engulfed in flames. "I managed to fire-proof the place, though it wasn't easy." He was grateful he had done that now.

Leo then noticed something about his friends' faces. He snorted and laughed out loud.

Hazel and Percy exchanged a glance. "What?" Hazel asked.

"What's so funny?" Percy questioned in the same second.

Leo took a few shaky breaths before answering. "You—your faces! Oh gods, you guys look like you were buried up to the neck on the beach for too long!" He burst out laughing again.

Percy's face was the most noticeable, considering it was completely red. Leo wished Percy had been wearing sunglasses during Espie's episode just to see the tan line that would've come from it! Percy's eyes widened when he touched his face and felt the heat come off his lobster-colored skin. Hazel didn't look that different, but Leo could tell the sun still wasn't kind to children of Pluto/Hades on a normal basis, so the intense heat _did_ have some effect on her complexion. Her hair had been blown back by sheer force, and it seemed frozen in blown-back position, so she looked like she had been standing in front of a rock n' roll speaker amped up to the max for the past day.

After exchanging another glance, the two friends exploded into laughter. Percy nearly toppled off the bed. Hazel used the bed post to steady herself. After calming down a bit, Leo looked over to check Tulio's condition. He hadn't really gotten a good look the first time, so now was the best time to check.

Being the closest to Espie's ground zero, Leo expected Tulio to have some blisters accompanying the red burns.

But Tulio was completely fine. He was just sitting on the bed, playing with his suspender buttons. No burns. No blisters. His hair was swept back like Hazel's, but other than that…He was exactly the same as before!

Leo's shoulders slumped. "What…?"

His friends followed his gaze, their own landing on the unharmed twin on the bed. Percy's jaw dropped. Hazel gasped. They seemed to reach the same conclusion Leo had.

"…You serious?" Leo asked aloud, half to himself. "Tulio, come here a sec."

Tulio warily obeyed his father, apparently not forgetting his anger two minutes before. Leo held out his hand to his son. "Tulio, I want you to stay still and stay calm. _Papi_ isn't gonna hurt you. I just wanna see something…Hold out your arm, please."

Tulio did as he was told. Leo snapped and a flickering flame appeared over his fingers. Leo held the flame under Tulio's bare arm. Hazel looked like she was about to punch Leo, but then noticed Tulio's lack of screaming. The boy just stared at his father with curious eyes.

Leo let the fire die and sighed. "Oh, gods…That's just...What the world needs is _not_ two more fire-users! Ain't I trouble enough?"

Percy laughed a bit. "Well at least you fire-proofed the place!"

Leo didn't feel reassured. He sighed and stood up, wincing at the pain in his abdomen. Percy shot up to help him out and steady him, for which Leo was grateful. Leo sat back down on the bed and looked at his unharmed, fire-proof twins.

"Kids," he finally said. "We're having pasta for lunch…"

* * *

_**A/N: More fire-users! Yay! That's **_**just_ what everyone needs, isn't it? :D_**


	13. How Was My Funeral?

_**Alrighty! Thanks, you guys for all the awesome and funny reviews, favorites and follows! :) Happy author is happy!**_

_**Gonna answer some reviews now, because I can, and I don't want to spam all y'all's PM Inboxes:**_

_**PercyJacksonOracle: The Great Fire of Houston...that has a nice ring to it! *evil laughter***_

_**Chris:**__**Dammit now that song is stuck in my head D: Why!? *takes remote and points it at my head* Change channel!**_

_**KJtheELMtree: Firey fluff is the greatest combination of words I have heard today! :D**_

_**Tom Riddle****:**__** I imagine him looking more along the lines of a slightly more muscular version of Adam Sevani (+2 years, seeing as he's my age and not Leo's). But everyone has their own rendition of adult Leo. If you think he looks like Weird Al, that doesn't bug me in the least. I'll just sit back and keep the Sevani image in my head as I write :3**_

_**Destiny**__** Wish**__**: Why not just log in and post? That way I'll always know it's you! :D**_

_**Hermes**__** Child: Mmm...pastaaaa**_

_***ahem***_

_**Okay, now; with those out of the way...time for the disclaimer!**_

_**I don't own any of these characters EXCEPT for Tulio, Espie and one little Sammy :3**_

* * *

**Twelve: How was My Funeral?**

After another thirty minutes of Leo resting on the bed with the twins curled up beside him, the trio of friends got bored. Leo forced himself to go downstairs. This wasn't hard considering his injuries were finally healed up. Hazel had told him about the empousa bite and that it hadn't healed up after the ambrosia-nectar combo. Percy thought back to when he watched Tulio 'kiss it better', reminding himself to bring that up later with Leo.

As Leo (slowly) darted around the kitchen making pasta for five, Percy and Hazel entertained the twins by telling them the (kid-friendly) stories of the past; stories of when their _Papi_ was the Supreme Commander of the _Argo II_, the head counselor of the Hephaestus cabin in Camp Half-Blood, and one of the Seven who saved the world.

The twins had a good laugh about their father greasing his hair back, drawing tattoos all over himself and trying to be cool in front of the Narcissus fan club. Percy thought, _his kids must also think he's a dork. Leo just can't get a break! Ha!_

"What a McShizzle, _Papi_?" Tulio asked, turning to his father, who was busy at the stove.

Without looking back, Leo shouted, "It's what your _Papi_ is! The most awesomest thing on the face of the planet!"

Percy snorted. Hazel giggled.

When Percy asked if the twins knew of their father's side of the family being special, Espie caught the hint. "Like Gandad?"

Leo brought the pasta pot over to the table while juggling with the bowls and silverware and spoke to Percy. "Yes they do know. Dad visits sometimes, but he's still awkward around kids. I can't blame him, it's just how he is. But, when he's here, the kids love him. They call him Gandad." He snickered. "Dad hated that at first but it's grown on him."

"But do they…" Percy stumbled on the words. "Do they know about him _really_? Like how he…"

"Gandad is Geek god!" Tulio said with a smile.

"Greek, Tulio," Leo corrected. "There's an R there." He looked at Percy. "Obviously, yes. They know about the Greek and Roman gods and that sometimes _Papi_ has to protect them from baddies—monsters. They kinda don't understand the concept, but when they're older they will. I figure it's better to get them used to it now instead of them finding out when a monster decides they smell delicious and I'm not there to protect them."

Percy nodded. "Lacy's the same. Though she's got a better understanding of it since we live so close to Camp—"

"Who's Lacy?"

Percy blinked. "Didn't I say earlier? Lacy's my daughter. Annabeth gave birth to her three years ago. We got another one coming soon, too!"

Leo patted Percy on the back. "Well no wonder you looked so comfortable with the twins! Congrats, man! And if it's a boy, you're totally gonna name it Leo Two, right? In honor of my own Leo Two?" He glanced over at the oblivious Tulio.

"Thanks," Percy said shyly. Then he thought about that question. "Very funny. Leo Two. Ha ha," he said with sarcasm. "I see what you did there!"

Leo directed his gaze to Hazel. Hazel smiled sheepishly.

"Well, Mrs. Zhang?" Leo prompted. "Besides the obvious name-change, any relationship news you'd like to share?"

"About two years ago came my very own baby," Hazel said proudly. "A bit older than the twins. Any guesses on the name?"

"Boy or girl?"

"Boy."

Leo scratched his chin. "Let's see…Frank Jr.?"

"Nope."

"Well I'm out of ideas, then…" Leo said, grinning.

"Sammy."

Leo's eyes widened. "Really? You named him after my _bisabuelo_? I hope he feels honored, the little bugger!"

Hazel winked. "His full name is Samuel Leo Zhang."

Percy saw Leo's jaw drop. Priceless.

"You…you gave him my name?" Leo finally managed. "Why?"

"Because," Hazel said with a pause. "You were special to us, Leo. When you disappeared, we were really worried. We—they even held…" her voice was barely audible now. Percy guessed she was thinking of the funeral. Then she tried to cover it with, "When Sammy was born, Frank suggested it. If anyone should feel honored it _should _be our son for having both your names!" She finished with a smile, and Percy could _almost_ believe she didn't feel bad about the funeral.

Apparently Leo had caught the dark undertone as well. "What were you about to say?"

Hazel flinched and started picking at her pasta. "No-nothing."

Leo leaned over the table, nearly knocking over his bowl. "Hazel. What happened?"

Percy interjected here. "Your funeral happened."

He didn't mean for it to sound so venomous.

Percy dropped his gaze and nibbled on his pasta. Then, after a few seconds of agonizing silence, he continued: "After you disappeared, we searched everywhere—literally. We even risked going to Greece. No one died, thank the gods, but after that fiasco we…pretty much gave up. We assumed…" He trailed off.

Leo didn't react. He just stared at Percy with a blank expression.

Hazel took it from there. "We—meaning the rest of the Seven and Nico—didn't go to your funeral. Though, a lot of people said you had a pretty cool eulogy. The Stolls made sure everyone knew how cool you were…even had the nerve to prank a couple people in your honor."

Leo blinked and sighed heavily. "Man…I…" He was struggling to find the words, Percy could tell. "I…I can't even say I'm sorry. That's just…"

The twins, who had been eating quietly while watching the grown-ups talk, picked up on their father's mood. Tulio scooted closer—as much as his baby seat would allow—and Espie stretched her arm out to him. Leo looked at them both in turn and smiled. Then he turned back to Hazel.

"Only a year, huh?" Was all he said.

"To be fair," Percy said, "Nico and we Seven/Six kept searching for you. I'll admit though, I was…" he gulped "…the first to give up. That was four years ago. Annabeth followed my lead. Then Frank three and a half years ago—" Hazel nodded. "—then Nico and Jason two years ago."

"I finally visited your…" Hazel trembled. "…_grave_…last year. It was hard, believe me." Her cheeks were already stained with tears. "And Piper…"

Leo held his breath. Percy sighed and continued for Hazel. "She…still hasn't given up. Every year she and Jason would travel somewhere they thought you would be and search. Jason let her search while he waited. Piper's been in a right state since you left. Jason won't leave her side for anything but Mark or work."

"Mark?"

Hazel managed to smile. "Their one-year-old. Born on August First, of all days, can you believe it?"

Leo smirked. "Awesome." Then the smile faded. "But…I'm really, _very_ sorry about that, though. I…After five years, I couldn't…couldn't face you guys…"

Hazel looked like she was about to slap him again. Percy felt his own anger rising, but pushed it down, remembering Leo's previous attempt at recalling his past. Percy stole a glance at his friend's eyes. They were beginning to cloud over again.

That was enough for Percy. He steadied Leo with a hand before facing Hazel. "Hazel, don't. Leo can't remember much of the first five years. He doesn't remember why he never contacted. So, at least until we figure that out, don't kill him for being a bigger idiot than usual."

Hazel flared her nostrils but seemed to calm down. "Fine."

"_Papi_ bad?" came the soft voice of Tulio. He was still trying to snuggle up to his father.

Percy ruffled the boy's hair. "Nah. Your dad's not a bad guy. He's just an idiot."

Hazel joined in. "A very silly idiot." She stuck her tongue out.

Leo shot them both a grateful glance. Then, he grimaced. "Man, why are we even discussing this depressing stuff in front of my kids? They'll be so scarred!"

Percy shoved him. "Please! They're _your_ kids! I highly doubt a serious conversation is gonna be bad for them at this age! If anything is bad for them it should be your normal behavior!"

The adults laughed. Leo clutched his heart in mock-hurt. "You cut me real deep just now, water boy! I'll have you know I'm doing quite well for myself! I've got my kids trained almost to perfection. Right kids?"

"Right!" The twins agreed.

"See? Trained," Leo said, leaning back in his chair smugly. Only, he leaned too far and before Percy could blink, the son of Hephaestus was on the ground, feet in the air, groaning.

"Case in point," Percy teased. Hazel kept on laughing. The twins were also laughing. Espie had the cutest little hiccup resulting from the laughter. Tulio had just about fallen out of his high-chair.

"Seriously, Leo," Percy continued after controlling his breathing. "How in Hades did you even _manage_ to do the things you're doing now?"

"Well, it helps to have a hard head," Leo said, deciding not to get up from the floor and crossing his arms behind his head. As if that would save his dignity.

"No, I mean…two kids, dude. You're—pardon me for pointing this out, but you're _alone_! How are you doing it? Lacy's enough of a handful for _two_ parents! I can't imagine those numbers being the other way around!"

Leo raised his eyebrows. He stared up at the ceiling, sighing happily. "Well," he began, "honestly it hasn't been easy. Except for the fire thing, you're catching the twins on a good day. I've had to wrestle these two monsters almost every single day they've been here. Don't get me started on all the sleepless nights I've endured!"

Percy inwardly winced at this, remembering Lacy's sleep-all-day-cry-all-night schedule. Then he winced for real when he realized he was about to get back on that schedule when the new baby was born.

"Not to mention having to go to work with these two nearby at all times because I can never get a babysitter. The shop is like their second crib." Leo laughed. "My mom used to joke that my first pacifier was a lug wrench. Well, Tulio's second pacifier _was_ a lug wrench! Espie's was the grip end of a flathead screwdriver…though she quickly moved to the non-marker part of a Crayola washable marker…"

_Interesting choices,_ Percy thought, smiling. _Lacy's a bit boring compared to the twins, now!_

"And to be honest, I haven't had a decent break since they came into my life. Weekends, sure, but not a vaca-day, you know? It's tough being a single dad with twins, trying to squeak by. Sometimes people look at me and go, 'oh, wow, he must be tired. Look at the poor dear. I don't envy him' or 'that man is alone and has two kids? That's not right, they shouldn't be in the hands of some lowly mechanic who probably can't afford college. They'll never be good citizens in _his_ hands'. Weird thing to say to a guy trying to just live and let his kids live...

"But, all in all, regarding my life these past three years," he said with the biggest grin Percy had ever seen, "I wouldn't change a thing!"

Hazel smiled sweetly and muttered, "I can live with that kind of excuse."

Percy snorted. He looked down at Leo, who was still staring up at the ceiling. His eyes were cloudy. Percy was about to jump up to help him when Leo waved it off. He looked over at Percy and said, "It's cool. I'm okay."

As if to prove this, he suddenly vaulted off the floor—with quite the dramatic flair—and landed back on his feet, grinning proudly. His eyes slowly turned brown again and Percy exhaled in relief.

* * *

_**A/N: A little bit more in depth about Leo's life the past two years. Still not clear on the first six? Oh, we'll get there eventually…But at least you've got an idea on how hard Leo's had it raising his twins alone.**_

_**And OH! I just revealed the cuteness of Mark Grace (also mine, since I 'conveniently' forgot him in the disclaimer)! You'll meet him (and Sammy and Lacy) soon! :)**_

_**But through this whole chapter I kept thinking: (insert Heath Ledger Joker voice here) "Why so serious?" This turned into a serious chapter quickly and I need to get in some laughs to make up for that…And I know just how to do it!**_


	14. Message

_**Once again, I'm loving all the reviews and favs! Way to make me a happy person :D**_

_**Answering some reviews:**_

_**Luna Ravenwood: Espie has her father's eyes :3 Tulio doesn't.**_

_**Ally: Genius? *scuffles foot embarrassingly* I don't know about that...I'm just a humble author.**_

_**Threelittleclouds: *runs around screaming with you***_

_**Aaaand Destiny: Okay, cool :) I can understand that!**_

_**Disclaimer: Tulio, Espie and Sammy are mine. Everyone else belongs to the great and powerful Rick.**_

* * *

**Thirteen: Message**

Hazel jumped at the sudden noise emanating from her pocket. Her ringtone for Frank rang through the air. Leo turned his head to her as he sat back down.

"Is that _**This is War**_ from Thirty Seconds to Mars?" he asked with a smirk.

"Frank's ringtone," she said smugly. She picked up the phone and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Everything ok?" Frank sounded a bit concerned. "You've been gone a while. Sammy's getting worried."

"Mm-hmm. Only Sammy?"

Pause. "Ok, so I'm worried too."

Hazel smiled. "Yeah, yeah. I'm alright. The 'further instructions' part of the note hasn't come up yet, but it's ok. The owner of this place—"

Leo shook his head. He whispered, "Just wait 'til we're face to face."

Hazel understood. No need to get Frank down here and risk hurting Sammy in a possible repeat-emposai incident.

"Hazel?" came Frank's voice. "The owner of that place is what?"

"Sorry, he's…friendly. A fellow demigod. Oh, Percy's here, too. He got a message like mine from his dad. Though we don't know why we're meeting here, really. We're kinda just sitting around. I'll let you know if anything happens; okay, hon?"

"Okay," Frank said after hesitating. "But the fellow demigod; who is it? Do we know him? Roman or Greek?"

"Greek," she said, ignoring the first two questions. "Don't worry, he's cool. I'll talk to you later, ok?"

"Fine, bye."

"Bye."

Hazel hung up and put the phone back in her pocket. Percy nodded, as did Leo.

"So," Leo said, crossing his arms—his very muscular arms, Hazel noticed—and leaning against the table. "You said you got a message telling you to come here and wait for instructions? I hope not from me…I don't have instructions for you, I'm afraid."

"But I do."

The deep, gruff voice made Hazel nearly jump five feet in the air. The group at the table turned toward the living room. Standing in the doorway to the shop was a huge figure wearing greasy coveralls and a leg brace. His beard was randomly catching fire in some places.

"Gandad!" Tulio and Espie shouted together. They both bounced up and down in their high-chairs excitedly.

"Dad?" Leo stood up quickly. "What are you doing here?"

Hephaestus walked over, pausing to ruffle Tulio's hair. "I see your fathers sent the message. Normally, I'd use Hermes, but…everyone's had enough of this. Poseidon and Hades actually agreed with me about this stupidity."

He pulled up a chair and sat down, grabbing Leo's pasta bowl and helping himself.

"Sorry," Leo said, sitting next to his father. "But, enough of what?"

The god gestured around him. "Of this," he said with pasta in his mouth. "Of keeping this a secret from the demigods. It was getting rather annoying how much that Piper girl—among a few other stubborn kids of mine—kept bothering us about you, Leo. I finally got the nerve to stand up to Zeus on this. We had a vote, and pretty much everyone agreed to get the fixing started."

"Fixing?" Percy asked, apparently too hungry to care that he, too, was talking with his mouth full. "Fixing what?"

Hephaestus tapped Leo on the forehead. "Fixing that."

Hazel's eyebrows raised. "You mean his memory? You're gonna fix it?"

"Well," the god shifted his weight on the chair. "_I_ can't fix it, no. The whole 'don't directly interfere with mortal affairs' thing is preventing that. I'm _really_ pushing that by being here so I'll be quick." He stopped eating and turned to Leo. "Son, you need to go on a quest with these two."

Leo blinked, apparently at a loss for words.

"A quest for…my memories?" Leo finally mustered. "I'll get to find out who…who she is? Why she left? All of it? No more pain or fog when trying to remember her?" He seemed excited at the idea. "Sign me up! Where do I start?"

Percy nodded, grinning like a madman. "I'm in. No way am I gonna refuse a chance to see what happened to Leo! Haven't been on a quest in while, but…ah, who cares!"

Hazel grinned as well. "It'd be just like old times! Oh," she exclaimed. Hazel turned to the god and asked, "What about Frank? And the children?"

"The son of Ares—Mars, sorry—won't join you on the official quest," Hephaestus said flatly. "But I'd imagine he'd follow you anyway to—"

"Well, then, what will happen to the kids?" Percy interrupted, glancing at the twins.

"Well," the god said, stroking his smoldering beard. "I don't expect you to begin your quest right here. I'd suggest doing what the teenagers do and get a proper prophecy from the Oracle. During which time, I'm sure, you'd find a babysitter _somewhere_ at Camp Half-Blood. I'm sure the son of Mars will accompany you there, too, at the very least."

Leo looked like he'd been shot. "C-camp?" he stammered. "Do I have to go there?"

Leo's father patted him on the shoulder sincerely. "You said yourself you weren't ready three years ago. However, you are ready _now_. Your friends and fellow demigods will understand your predicament. Some already do." He gestured to Hazel and Percy, both of whom nodded encouragingly.

Leo smiled weakly. Then he sighed. "Fine." He ran his fingers through his wavy curls. "Guess I had to face the past eventually." He brightened. "Nothing like a dangerous quest to bring friends back together, eh?"

Hazel nodded. She reached over and took Leo's warm hand. "You'll be fine."

"Good," Hephaestus grunted. "And don't worry about the shop, Leo. I can hide it away until you come back."

With that, the god of blacksmiths and fire vanished; the bowl of pasta was gone as well.

Hazel held her breath. "Come back?" she asked Leo. "You sure you wouldn't want to live near the others in New York?"

Leo shook his head. "I'm too attached to Houston. Where I was born, where I feel most…at home, in the end. But, when I do come back after the quest, I promise I'll actually keep in contact and send any demigods your guys' way—Roman and Greek respectively, of course."

_He shouldn't be here alone,_ Hazel thought. _But then again, he's got the kids. I doubt he'll ever feel alone again with them around. And maybe he'll follow them to Camp Half-Blood once they're old enough to go!_

"Well," Percy said, standing up. "Guess you'd better pack! I'll help!"

* * *

_**A/N: The plot has been revealed! Finally we're getting somewhere!**_

_**Sorry about the pacing in this one. It went kinda fast, I'm sorry.**_

_**Oooooh, the next chapter is gonna be fun. Percy thinks up a really great way to introduce Leo to the camp!**_


	15. Jinkies the Octopus VS Happy the Dragon

_***legasp* Another chapter!? That was fast!**_

_**I didn't like just ending my submission day for Papi on the last chapter, so I decided I wanted to give you guys this one, too! :D Ain't I nice?**_

_**Also, this was my second favorite chapter to write, and I hope you enjoy it!**_

_**And-what? A change in POV!? This MUST be a special chapter, then! :P**_

_**Disclaimer: PJO and the canon characters are Rick's. Tulio, Espie, Sammy, Mark, Lacy and the other obvious OCs in the story are mine :) Including Jinkies. :D**_

* * *

**Fourteen: Jinkies the Octopus VS Happy the Dragon**

It didn't take long for Leo to reboot and repair Festus—about five minutes—but it took a solid 45 minutes for Leo to install baby seats onto Festus's neck, in front of Leo's spot. Percy had offered to give them a ride on Blackjack, but Leo promptly refused, saying he trusts Festus more than Blackjack. That peeved Percy a little, but he held it back.

Hazel had gone to her hotel to retrieve Frank and Sammy. She said they would all meet at camp and that she'd break the news to Frank on the way. _That's gonna be hard to do on Arion_, thought Percy, laughing internally as he saw a mental image of Hazel shouting to Frank about Leo while traveling at the speed of sound.

Once the baby seats were in place and the twins' travel bags secured in a secret compartment, Percy handed the twins up one at a time to Leo, who buckled them right into their respective seats in front of his spot: Espie in front, Tulio in back, closest to Leo.

Espie was ecstatic, bouncing in her baby seat with absolute glee. Tulio was also happy, but was paying more attention to TF, who was nestled neatly in the boy's lap, ready for the ride.

Once they took off, it was a pretty interesting ride. Percy and Leo shared (while shouting over the wind) funny stories about their kids. Percy loved hearing about how the twins would do something weird and 'bad' and Leo'd be the one to clean up the mess. Occasionally, the twins would pipe in with a 'Nuh-uh' to prove their father wrong. At which point Leo would ruffle their wind-whipped hair and shout 'yeah-huh' right back.

Percy also informed Leo of New Athens, the city just outside of camp that was modeled after New Rome. Annabeth had designed most of it. The Athena Parthenos stood in the square. The small, seven-year-old city even had a college. A lot of demigods moved there immediately after the apartments and houses were built. Leo seemed intrigued at the thought of the safe city and said he might reconsider not returning to Houston and moving the shop/forge to New Athens.

Near the end of the ride—which was a little over two hours long—Percy's throat was raw from all the laughing and shouting.

Soon, they were flying over Long Island Sound's forest. Percy stole a glance at Leo. He looked queasy, his naturally tan skin paling every minute. _Must be nerves._

"D'ya wanna stop?" Percy shouted.

Leo nodded. They touched down a little way off of Half-Blood Hill. Leo immediately jumped off of Festus and nervously paced around. Percy knew the poor guy was probably nervous as all get-out, stressing himself out over his friends' reactions. Though Percy and Hazel had taken it well, the others might not...Even Percy was worried about Piper's reaction; she might actually kill the poor son of Hephaestus!

The sun was low, which meant that dinner would start soon. The campfire on Fridays—which was today—hosted some older demigods from New Athens. Percy and Annabeth loved to join the camp on campfire night, as did Jason and Piper. Chiron even had a few tables added to the dining pavilion to host the New Athenians for meals. _Everyone's probably heading to the dining pavilion right about now, now that I think about it…So, if we wait until Hazel and Frank arrive, Leo would be introduced to the whole camp at once—_

His initial thoughts trailed away as a very grand idea flew into his brain. Percy slowly grinned, turning to Leo and the twins. Leo was better now, but he still seemed a bit nervous. The twins didn't pick up on the mood, too excited about being in a totally new place, bouncing on top of Festus in their baby seats.

"Hey, Leo," Percy said with the most sinister grin he'd ever gotten. "You nervous about the reunion?"

The fire-user looked at Percy and paused. "Well I was until I saw that face. Now I'm nervous about you and possibly my health…What in Hades' name are you thinking?"

Percy whispered his plan to Leo. Leo's eyes widened. Then, he suddenly had the biggest grin on his face. "Oh, gods that's evil!"

"Right? You in?"

Leo looked right at Tulio, who was busy playing with TF, and his grin got wider.

"So in!"

**-Annabeth POV-**

Annabeth sat herself down at one of the New Athens tables. She had given an offering already and was about to chow down on one of the greatest cheeseburgers ever when Piper and Jason Grace plopped themselves down in front of her. Piper sat their son Mark in his baby seat. She beside her baby on the right while Jason sat on the left.

"Hey, Annabeth," Piper said. "Where's Percy?"

"He got called to go to Houston by his dad," she answered.

"Why?" Jason asked, spoon-feeding Mark a bit of applesauce.

"Dunno. It didn't seem threatening, and I'm not too worried about it." She was telling the truth, of course; If Poseidon sent the note it probably wasn't that bad. She consulted Rachel about any prophecies concerning her husband. The Oracle didn't respond with one, so Annabeth didn't feel too concerned. She was mainly keeping her thoughts on Lacy and the unborn one today.

Said three-year-old was trying to make Mark laugh by sticking her tiny spoons on her nose and ears. Mark giggled, spitting out a bunch of applesauce onto the table. Piper reprimanded her son, wiping off the applesauce with a napkin.

Jason nodded to Annabeth with a smile. "If you're not worried, then we won't be. Oh, hey!"

He waved someone over. Annabeth turned slightly to see Nico di Angelo sit down a seat away from her. She motioned for him to sit closer but he waved it off.

"It's okay, Nico. Percy's off in Houston right now. He won't be joining us."

Nico hesitated before finally sliding over to join the others. "Houston?"

"Don't ask," Annabeth said. "Something his dad requested."

"Ah, well I'm sure he'll be fine," Nico said after taking a bite of his pizza.

Annabeth turned back to Piper and Jason. "You guys staying for the campfire?"

They nodded. Mark gurgled something like, "Abbah!" and his hands shot out in front of him, trying to grab at an apple that sat on Annabeth's plate.

Annabeth smiled and handed her apple over to Jason, who promptly sliced it up into small bites and gave some to his son. Mark had taken after his mother, with a slightly lighter tan and scruffy brown hair. However, he had gotten Jason's brilliant blue eyes. Sometimes Annabeth thought they shifted in tones like his mother's eyes could. Mark's hair had its own back story, too. When he was born his hair had been sticking up all over the place. Percy, being the godfather that liked to joke, decided to call him 'Sora'. Like from Kingdom Hearts. The name spread through camp and New Athens like wildfire and stuck. Piper and Jason were horrified at it, but Mark didn't seem to mind having two different names, so Percy continued to call him Sora.

Annabeth looked around at the current generation of campers. The Athena cabin's head counselor, a young man named Ryan Dimitri, smiled and waved. She waved back. The Hecate cabin sat nearby, their counselor, Wendy Black, giving a smile as she noticed Lacy with the spoons. The Ares counselor Freddie Widdles (very amusing name for the toughest guy in camp) was consulting with Clarisse La Rue, the old head. Annabeth shuddered. Those two were probably trying to decide where to put mines in the next Capture-the-Flag (sometimes New Athenians could play as well).

The Hephaestus cabin caught Annabeth's eye. They were all cheering around their table, placing bets on which of their tiny automatons would win their Friday night chicken-fight. It was a tiny King Kong with ballistic missiles versus a flame-spouting octopus. The octopus, from what Annabeth remembered, was Harley's. Harley was the current head counselor for Cabin 9. He had taken over a couple years back, after Nyssa retired from the position and moved into New Athens.

The octopus squiggled over to King Kong and wrapped its bronze tentacles around the ape. King Kong tried firing a missile, but the octopus spouted flames from its ink-hole. King Kong struggled only for a second before malfunctioning. The octopus wheeled around in victory and threw the bronze ape off the table. Harley cheered and held up his creation for the world to see. Half the cabin had smug looks on their faces as they counted out their new drachmas.

Suddenly, a little foot-long bronze dragon took the stage. It flew above everyone's heads and landed on the table, flaring its miniature wings and roaring. Annabeth had to do a double take. Nico, Jason and Piper noticed her fascination and looked over at Cabin Nine's table. The whole table had gone silent. Harley tilted his head curiously, then laughed. "A challenger, I take it?"

The little bronze dragon whirred and clicked in what could only be 'bring it on' in Creak and Squeak. As Harley set down his octopus, the rest of the dining pavilion went silent, noticing the dragon. Most of the New Athenians stood up and surrounded the table, whispering amongst themselves. Even Chiron strained his neck to see what was up.

Annabeth joined the group with Lacy at her side. She heard Connor Stoll next to her whisper to his brother Travis, "Gods, that looks like Festus! If Harley didn't make it look like that, then who did, I wonder?"

Annabeth wondered that too, considering Harley was the only Hephaestus camper left that knew about Festus. She repeated that question to Jason. Jason stared at the dragon, his eyes widening in recognition. "Holy Jupiter, you're right!" he almost shouted. "It's Festus!"

Piper gasped as she recognized it too. Nyssa, who had joined the circle moments before, looked like she was trying to catch flies with her mouth it was so wide open.

"Right then," Harley shouted above the campers and New Athenians. "Place your bets! My flaming octopus, Jinkies, versus…uh…Happy the dragon!"

Annabeth and half the New Athenians snorted. Harley may not have known who the creator of Happy was (well, no one did) but he certainly remembered the larger dragon it was modeled after. No one spoke against the name, either.

Harley set Jinkies down and the two automatons sized each other up. Happy hissed and Jinkies sputtered grease out the top of its head. They squared off for a moment before Travis Stoll yelled, "Ding ding! Get on with it!"

Jinkies decided to repeat the strategy from before, squiggling over to its opponent and wrapping its tentacles around it. Happy flapped its wings trying to escape, but the tentacles held strong. Flame erupted from Jinkies and engulfed the dragon. Happy squirmed, but didn't seem fazed by the flames. In fact, it started to spout blue flames in retaliation.

The circle of people roared and cheered. Even Nico seemed to get excited. Almost all of the New Athenians had placed a bet on Happy winning. C'mon…It was the spitting image of Festus! Harley's Jinkies obviously didn't stand a chance.

And it truly didn't. The octopus reared back in surprise at the blue flames. Happy fixed its jaws onto one of the tentacles and its rotating teeth spun to life, ripping the tentacle off in seconds. Oil and grease spattered everywhere. Happy blew fire again and the oil caught instantly. Jinkies wasn't fire-proof on the inside; As soon as the fire hit the inner side of the tentacle, Jinkies exploded into a million pieces.

Harley's mouth fell open as the New Athenians and bet winners cheered. He slowly gathered the poor octopus pieces, not taking his eyes off the victorious Happy. Said automaton was trotting around the table proudly—if robots could even feel pride—and spouting tiny fireworks.

Chiron trotted over and parted the sea of demigods. He reached down and picked up Happy, studying it curiously. Happy curled around the centaur's fingers, wrapping its tail around his wrist playfully.

"Don't tell me _you_ made that, Chiron!" someone shouted. Annabeth thought it was one of the Stolls.

Chiron laughed. "I certainly can't do anything like this." He stroked Happy gently. The dragon purred and clicked happily—pardon the pun.

"Then whose is it?" Harley asked.

"TF! 'mere!" came a very young voice.

Happy perked up and flew out of Chiron's hands. It flew right over everyone's heads and landed somewhere beyond the crowd. Everyone shifted position and looked over each other to get a better look at the owner of Happy the dragon.

Annabeth pushed past the Stolls and Nico. She nearly fainted.

A tiny Latino boy in jean overalls and a _**Kiss the Mechanic**_ shirt was giggling as Happy wiggled and writhed around him playfully. The automaton finally came to rest on the boy's curly black hair. The boy looked up at the crowd of demigods—and Chiron—and grinned impishly, like he was about to pull a prank.

"HI!" He shouted, waving. "I Leo!"

The whole crowd's knees just about gave way. Everyone seemed to shrink a foot as they struggled to keep themselves upright. Chiron trotted over to the little Leo and looked down—which honestly was a struggle for him, as he had never had to look at something so small before.

"Leo?" He asked. "As in Leo _Valdez_?"

"Yes!" The boy swayed back and forth, grinning proudly. He held up a tiny plastic wrench and said in _the most adorable _way possible, "Need fix?"

Nyssa was down for the count, as was Piper. Both of them landed on top of each other. Other New Athenians also fainted. Annabeth was held steady by Nico, so she couldn't join them on the ground.

Harley was the first to regain his composure, slowly approaching the Latino boy and crouching down to get a closer look. "Leo?" he echoed. "You're _really_ Leo?"

"Yes." Little Leo replied, still grinning. "I Leo."

"Do you remember me?"

"Nuh-uh." His black curls swayed as he shook his head. "No know."

Harley stole a glance back at Annabeth: _Help?_

Annabeth walked over, as did Jason. Piper was still on the ground, being tended to by Nico now. The daughter of Athena looked down at the little Leo and asked, "How old are you, then, L-Leo?" The name hung on her tongue, making her stutter.

He held up two tiny fingers. "I two!"

"Okay," Jason exhaled. "And where are you from?"

Leo struggled at the word. "Hu…Hew…Hooston!"

"You mean Houston?"

"Yes!" Leo clapped his hands. "Houston!"

Jason paled. Annabeth decided to be bolder. "Where's your mom?"

Leo tilted his head at this. "Mom?" He looked confused. "No know…"

"Okay, then," she said, not wanting to upset the boy. "Can you, um…flame on?" That was a very stupid way to ask something…

Leo now looked even more confused than before. "Fame on?"

Annabeth looked at Jason for help. He thought about it for a second and his face suddenly lit up with an idea.

Jason looked at Happy and flicked it hard. Happy growled and blew fire. The flames didn't go very far but Leo's hair ignited. Leo pouted and patted the hair-fire out like nothing was wrong. He grabbed Happy and glared at him, pursing his lips.

"Bad TF," he scolded. "No fire! Bad!"

Happy—or TF—seemed to deflate, in a manner of speaking, lowering its head, looking defeated. It suddenly curled up into a tight ball. Leo put the ball in his overalls pocket and smiled up at the group.

"Gotta be Leo." That was Connor Stoll behind Annabeth. "He's a fire user! It's gotta be him, for sure!"

And suddenly more of the New Athenians were down. A bunch of Apollo campers weaved around the crowd, trying to help the unconscious. Nyssa was up for about two seconds, took one look at Leo, and went down again. Piper stood up after waking up and joined her husband. Tears were in her eyes. She looked like she was about to tackle the two-year-old.

Annabeth heard a noise. It was sort of like hissing, and it wasn't coming from the crowd behind her. She looked around Chiron and stared at the trembling bush next to the dining pavilion entrance. _Wait,_ she thought. _That's not hissing. That's snickering. Like someone's trying to hold in a laugh…_

She stormed over to the bush and pushed the leaves aside. Percy was sitting there, his legs crossed. His face was red as he tried to hold in his laugh. However, as soon as he saw Annabeth, he burst into a snorting laughter. More laughter erupted from the other bushes.

"Perseus Jackson!" She screamed. "What in Tartarus are you laughing at!?"

That got the crowd's attention. Everyone looked over at Annabeth, who was kicking her husband hiding in the bushes. Percy eventually came out of hiding, face red and teary. He was hyperventilating.

"Oh, gods, that was so funny," Percy managed between laughs. "Your faces! Priceless!"

Annabeth, fuming, moved over to the other three bushes one by one. The first—the smallest—held a teary-eyed Hazel. The second revealed a red-faced Frank and a confused Sammy. She kicked the parents and took Sammy in her arms. "Honestly! Bad influences, the lot of you!"

Before she could push back the third bush's leaves, a child ran out, giggling. This one was a small Latina girl with curly black hair held up in two ponytails. She had a pretty little dolphin dress on with cute blue sandals to match. The girl ran past Annabeth towards Leo. Annabeth couldn't help but notice they were twins.

Leo smiled and yelled over the girl, "I do it? I do it?"

Hazel, Frank and Percy erupted into laughter once more. The bush shuddered as a snort sounded from inside. Annabeth pulled back the leaves and gasped.

A full-grown Leo was rolling around on the ground under the bush, clutching his stomach. His face was contorted in laughter, tears rolling down his cheeks. He paused for a second to look up at Annabeth.

He put on his best evil imp grin and had _the nerve_ to say, "That was hilarious."

Annabeth punched him right in the nose and he crumpled, falling silent.

* * *

_**A/N: And there you have it. Who needs boring reunions when you can prank people instead? This was originally supposed to be Tulio running around camp, breaking into each cabin repeating "Need Fix?" and then running away. However, Tulio is two: ergo, not that fast. The campers would catch him instantly. So I nixed the idea and came up with this one. Much more fun putting TF up against teenage Harley's Octopus.**_

_**Okay, I actually Googled "octopus names" and came up to a random site with a bunch of awesome names. Eventually, I saw Jinkies and thought 'Perfect!'**_

_**And yes, I totally described its movements as 'squiggling'. :D Best verb ever!**_

_**I imagine that even Nyssa can faint, so that's why she did (along with almost all the New Athenians that knew Leo) :P**_


	16. Beat-Up-Leo Day

_**Glad you all enjoyed that chapter! Now you see why it was my second favorite to write. :P**_

_**And now, the moment you've all been waiting for! *drumrolls***_

_**THE REACTIONS FROM THE NEW ATHENIANS!**_

_**:D**_

_**Disclaimer: Tulio, Espie, Sammy, Mark and Lacy are mine. Rick owns all canon characters!**_

* * *

**Fifteen: Beat-Up-Leo Day**

Leo woke up after a few minutes with a bloody and broken nose. His hand flew to his nose and he groaned. _Geeze, Annabeth sure has an arm! You'd think being a mom would soften that just a tiny bit!_

Someone helped him sit up slowly.

As he sat on the ground, someone—most likely an Apollo camper—reset and bandaged his nose. The reset hurt like Hades, but he stood—or sat—his ground and soldiered through it. Tulio and Espie were suddenly beside him.

He smiled and leaned towards his twins. "I think _Papi_ has an owie," he whispered.

Espie kissed her father hard on the nose, which made him wince. Tulio came next and kissed him in the same spot lightly. The pain in his nose suddenly vanished. Leo looked at his son curiously but said nothing as arms wrapped around his body.

"LEO! OH MY GODS LEO I KNEW YOU WERE ALIVE!"

More arms wrapped around him, stronger than the first pair. A deep voice resounded in his ear, "You jerk! What in Jupiter's name were you thinking! That was so not funny, pranking us like that!"

Leo knew instantly that it was Piper and Jason who were hugging him. He laughed and hugged his old friends back.

Suddenly, he felt claustrophobic. A huge mass of people group-hugged him in seconds. Many of them were shouting, "Leo's alive!" "It's a miracle!" "This is awesome!"

The twins had been pushed away. Leo caught a glimpse of them shifting from one foot to the other impatiently, looking slightly worried that their father had disappeared beneath a huddled mass of people. Leo swatted away all the people and motioned for his kids approach again.

Then someone punched him in the arm.

And kicked him in the leg.

And beat him with the blunt end of a spear.

And slapped him.

It was like everyone decided today was National Beat-Up-Leo day. He curled into the fetal position and endured the hits and kicks. He laughed, though. He knew this was coming and just laughed as it came.

"You have the NERVE to laugh?" came Piper's voice. "I ought to KILL YOU just so we can have a body for your grave!"

Yet Leo laughed on. He couldn't help it. Soon the beating stopped and he was helped to his feet. Leo waved off the Apollo campers and said, "Leave it. I can handle getting beat up by a few people. I'm sure I deserved all of it."

One last slap hit him in the face. He blinked as a fuming Piper came into focus.

"You sure as Hades DID DESERVE ALL OF IT!" She shouted. Jason held her back, for which Leo was totally grateful. "You deserve a lot more, you piece of Minotaur shit!"

"Easy," Leo said, holding his hands up in surrender. "Young ears at three o' clock!"

Piper glanced at the children. "And that's another thing! Where in Tartarus did you get the clone!? Some sort of spell or cheap trick to make him look like you?"

Leo beamed. "Nope." He let the 'p' pop. "Dem's my kids. Guys," he shouted to the whole group. "Meet Esperanza and Tulio Valdez: the world's first and only two mini-me's!"

The entire group locked on to the twins. Tulio was nervous now. Espie smiled like nothing was wrong. A bunch of Aphrodite cabin girls 'aww'd. The older demigods shot glances from the twins to Leo and back again.

"Kids?" everyone seemed to shout at once.

Leo blushed. "Ain't it awesome?"

A rough-looking teenager stepped forward. Though Leo hadn't seen him in eight years, he knew the stocky, muscular boy in front of him was his half-brother Harley. Harley had the biggest flabbergasted face on. "You mean to tell me…this guy—" he pointed to Tulio "—is named Tulio?" He exhaled in relief. "Holy Hephaestus! Do you realize how much of a heart attack you gave me by making him tell us his name was Leo?"

Leo grinned. "Saw the whole thing, dude. And it. Was. High-larious. Not my idea though," he added quickly. "I was just planning on walking into camp and doing the whole awkward-reunion thing. The grand master schemer of this was none other than Percy Jackson."

Percy ducked behind Frank as all the heads turned. Frank turned into an iguana immediately and scurried over to his wife. The son of Poseidon waved awkwardly at the crowd of demigods. Many of the New Athenians gave him the stink-eye.

Chiron walked over and patted Leo on the shoulder. He looked at the demigod with sad eyes. "Glad you're back, Leo. But, if you're planning on reuniting with us after another eight year disappearance, please don't do something like that again." He turned to the crowd. "It seems we're going to have an interesting campfire story tonight!"

The demigods cheered. Leo poked at Chiron to get his attention back. "Sorry, but can we go eat first? I haven't eaten anything since Houston!"

* * *

Dinner was a blast. Leo sat at one of the New Athenian tables, which quickly became crowded with old friends and family. The kids sat nearby at their own kiddie table (Chiron had one brought up for the night). Nyssa was on the left side of him, Harley on the right. Harley refused to sit at the Hephaestus table, saying he didn't want to leave his brother's side. Leo had no complaints about it, and was extra surprised about Harley currently holding the position of Hephaestus Cabin head counselor. He had come a long way from being the small eight-year-old boy Leo used to know.

While Leo ate, his brother told stories of all the stuff his siblings had been building, all the trouble they'd been getting into over the years. Nyssa helped with the recount, of course, making sure Harley told the truth. Leo was especially impressed by Jinkies, the flame-spouting bronze octopus that Harley had invented, being the current undefeated champion of Hephaestus Table Wars (Leo remembered participating and holding the HTW championship title with his own bronze phoenix—known as Chickadee—once upon a time). Well, Jinkies _was_ undefeated until it met Tiny Festus Mark 1. Leo snorted when he head TF being called Happy and decided that he would rename TF Happy just for shits and giggles.

Leo was introduced to three new faces that evening. The first was Mark 'Sora' Grace, Piper and Jason's one-year-old. His choppy brown hair was sticking up in spikes, slightly covering his piercing blue eyes. Leo could _definitely_ tell why his nickname was Sora.

The second new face was Sammy Leo Zhang. Leo smiled at the two-year-old's black hair. It was almost like a curly 'fro, sticking out in a tangled mess just like his mother's. He had golden eyes, too, just like his mom. He was a lighter shade than Hazel, and a tad chubby. Leo guessed the chubby aspect came from his dad, remembering the baby-faced Asian Frank used to be before the gift of Mars.

The last new face was Lacy Marie Jackson, who was the spitting image of Annabeth with Percy's sea green eyes. She was a beautiful little lady, Leo had to admit, but she wouldn't ever compare to Espie's beauty. Espie was the most beautiful little girl here (okay, so he's a little biased—so sue him).

Mark was very interested in the TF-Happy ball Tulio was holding, stretching his arms out to grab it. Jason scolded him lightly, telling him that it wasn't his, it was Tulio's.

Lacy seemed more interested in Tulio's hair, trying to run her fingers through his curls. Tulio didn't appreciate that and kept dodging away.

Sammy was more interested in making friends with Espie, at which Leo became slightly nervous. _Dammit,_ he thought, having a war with his own thoughts. _They're two years old and I'm already acting like the overprotective dad! Espie can have friends that are boys…_

…_but not boyfriends._ This was the mean little voice at the back of his mind.

_Stop it._ This was his tiny voice of reason and common sense (yeah, he had that).

_Sammy's not allowed to touch my little Espie!_

_I said stop it!_

_He's touching her now…_

_It's a playful poke, perfectly harmless!_

_It begins with poking. Then it's kissing and then—_

_Just stop!_

_And Lacy's touching Tulio. Running her fingers through his hair…_

_She's curious._

_Curiosity leads to other things._

_They're babies!_

_They won't be forever._

_End of discussion!_

It seemed that Frank was a little apprehensive as well, eyeing Esperanza warily, seemingly having his own private thought war.

Leo flicked a piece of mashed potato at the son of Mars, smiling. Frank glared half-heartedly at Leo. "If those two end up together," Frank warned, "I'm not accepting you into the family."

"Duly noted," Leo said, flicking another food item at him. "Same to you, Percy."

"What'd I do?"

Leo shoved his finger in Lacy and Tulio's direction. "If she seduces my Tulio, I'll incinerate you."

Percy laughed. "When Lacy stops being cute and starts being seductive, give me a call. I'll start running after her."

The group laughed and joked on for a good hour. Leo, more than once, decided to bring up Nyssa fainting in front of everyone. Nyssa, more than once, punched Leo in the arm. A lot of the New Athenians were dazzled by his newfound muscles. Some of them—namely Travis and Connor Stoll—started to punch him in the arm and chest, testing out the hardness. Leo recoiled after a while and declared this day to officially be National Beat-Up-Leo day. Everyone agreed and set their mind's calendars. Leo had a feeling they would remember to do this next year.

* * *

Chiron stomped his hoof down, calling everyone to the fire pit for the upcoming campfire. Leo felt a tad nervous. After all, he was about to tell everyone that he didn't remember why he left eight years ago, or why he never contacted. Even _he_ didn't understand or believe that he wouldn't contact his friends at _some_ point in those first five years…

They all walked down to the fire pit happily. Leo was directed to the New Athenian seating area, which looked like it was still being built. As soon as everyone was situated the songs began and marshmallows were roasted.

It was at this point everyone discovered that Tulio and Esperanza Valdez were both fire-users (they seemed to have forgotten about Tulio's hair being on fire earlier). Espie and Tulio were holding out long sticks that each had two marshmallows on them. Long story short: Tulio stumbles on a rock trying to shuffle closer and smacks into Espie; Espie falls forward into the fire; Screaming ensues from the adults and teenagers.

Leo's heart dropped for a second before he remembered the tantrum from earlier. He then sat back and watched as Espie—completely unharmed—stormed out of the bonfire, grabbed Tulio, fought for a second, and eventually fell back into the fire with Tulio coming in after her.

By the time Tulio hit the fire, most of the campers and New Athenians had stopped screaming and were watching with pure fascination. Percy, Hazel and Leo were chuckling at the fire-wrestling twins. Annabeth, Frank and Jason had grabbed their children to make sure they didn't repeat the Valdez twins' obviously idiotic behavior.

After a glare from Annabeth and Piper, Leo finally got up and barreled into the bonfire. He grabbed the charred toddlers and pulled them out, a twin dangling from each arm. Tulio grappled his father's arm and dangled like a monkey. Espie followed her brother's lead, forgetting about the fight two seconds before, screeching, "_Papi! _Uppies!"

Leo couldn't resist. Forgetting where he was, he lifted the twins up, shouting, "Who's the strongman?"

"_Papi_ strongman!" the twins shouted.

"Who's the strongman?"

"_Papi_ strongman!"

"RRRRAAAAAA!" Leo threw his arms up high and the twins fell to the ground. The whole crowd cheered and laughed. Leo felt slightly embarrassed but quickly let that feeling turn into something else. He bent slightly, posing in body-builder style, showing off his biceps in a flashy way. "You likey?" he said to no one in particular.

The Aphrodite girls (among others) squealed. Leo felt proud. _Take that, Fates! Who said I couldn't woo a girl? Who said I wasn't as good as Percy or Jason?_

Piper—the only Aphrodite child that didn't squeal—came up and punched him in the arm. "Stop fooling around!"

"What? You know you like it!" Leo retorted, wiggling his eyebrows. One of the Aphrodite girls swooned. _Yes! Score one for the No-Longer-Scrawny-Repair-Boy!_ "No autographs, please, ladies!"

Piper grabbed Leo by the ear and dragged him back to his seat. The entire way, Leo was shouting, "Ow, ow, ow, ow! Piper that's my ear! I need that!"

The whole crowd laughed. Even Chiron was chuckling. As the laughter died down, the centaur stepped forward. "Alright, alright," he began. "Quiet down! First off, I'd like to welcome the New Athenians to our bonfire tonight! It's always nice to have old faces join us!" Clapping ensued. "Secondly, on the subject of 'old faces', I'd like to welcome back someone who many of us believed to be dead. One of the Seven, the _-cough-_ Supreme Commander and builder of the _Argo II_: Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus!"

Leo stood up and waved. The whole crowd of demigods cheered; the New Athenians were the loudest. The campers looked on in fascination at the 24-year-old Latino. Leo assumed most of the campers today had only heard stories of him, which was pretty cool, yet extremely depressing, considering he—_apparently_—had a grave out there somewhere.

"So, Mr. Valdez," Chiron said as the cheering died down. "Care to share your story? We'd all like to hear about your adventures these past eight years, I'm sure!"

A billion voices all shouted "Speech! Speech! Speech!" in perfect unison. Leo scratched the back of his head self-consciously, feeling his face heat up.

He walked over and stood next to Chiron. Now Leo felt like he was fifteen again, with Chiron towering over his small 5'6 frame.

"S-so," he said shakily. Leo coughed and tried again. "So. As you all can see, I am very much alive. Thanks for, uh, giving me a funeral and all. I'm actually quite honored. Had I known you guys had done that, maybe I would've come back sooner."

"Why did you leave in the first place?" Leo thought that came from Harley. Sounded like him, at least.

Leo took a deep breath. _Here we go._ "You're probably not going to like this answer: I…I can't remember why exactly."

Every New Athenian face (Percy, Hazel and Frank excluded) glared at him. Most of them looked like they were about to throw a hissy-fit. Leo didn't blame them.

"Okay, I said you wouldn't like it." Leo held his hands up in surrender. "But it's the truth. The first five years I've been away have been…a blur to me. A lot of it is surrounded by fog. It hurts to remember." As he said this, he unintentionally thought of those years and who he was with. The fog began to creep into his vision. He was aware of Percy jumping up and steadying him. Leo shook his head and cleared his mind. The fog evaporated. Leo could focus once more.

"Anyway," he said, noticing the eerie quiet around him. "I _do_ remember I left for a girl." He pointed to his twins. "Three guesses on how special that girl was to me. But she's also the reason I can't remember. About three years ago I woke up one day feeling like I had woken up from a dream. My dad told me that the girl I had gone off with fogged up my memories of her on purpose." He paused, deciding to not tell them about his decision to move to Houston because he thought he couldn't face his fellow demigods about it. "So, yeah, I'm really sorry. Anti-climactic story, I know! Boring monster/quest-free life is boring..."

The crowd had shifted uncomfortably. Leo was thankful the resentful stares had dropped. "Okay, so the past two years…It's pretty obvious why I haven't had the time to contact." He glared playfully at Tulio and Espie. "Seriously, have any of you ever tried raising two kids and keeping your own business afloat, while still fighting off monsters because you're a demigod, all alone? So, please don't blame me for those years. I've been punished enough!"

That got some laughs. The tension in the air lifted. Leo relaxed. They were taking this better than he'd hoped. He clapped his hands together. "Alright. As to why I'm here: I'm on a quest with Percy and Hazel to get those memories back! Told to come here first to get a prophecy like the good ol' days. That about sums it up, any questions?"

Everyone seemed to accept this. Chiron clapped his hand onto Leo's shoulder. "Well, Leo, glad you're alive. We'd let you see Rachel, but she's away on business until tomorrow. I hope your quest can wait a day?"

"As long as this quest doesn't involve Gaea awakening again in, like, the next two days, I think I can manage…"

The crowd roared in laughter.

* * *

_**A/N: Beware. Beware! I'm not done with the hilarity! The next chapter is only the beginning! Mwa ha ha! :D**_


	17. Don't Drink the Wine

_**Destiny: I, uh, don't know what you're asking concerning Festus? Well, here's the gist of his involvement so far: He's Leo's security mainframe, Leo fixes and restores him after the emposai thing, Leo puts baby seats on him, Leo and twins ride him to CHB. And yes, he will be the ride for the quest.**_

_**Now, since I gave an explanation about Festus, let me say something about the Argo II before someone asks: I think the Argo II is either sitting next to the other Greek tririmes in the lake (or wherever those are) or is chillin' out in Bunker Nine. I'mma go with the latter of those possibilities since Leo rebuilt Festus and flew off without really fixing the Argo II back up :P**_

_**The reason I explained this is because that ship is far too big for this story's quest. Festus is enough transportation.**_

_**Alright! Adult themes all around! :D Don't worry, I don't mean lemons or smut! I mean drinking! YAY!**_

_**Disclaimer: (This is easier to say) All the kids belong to me. The adults are Rick's.**_

* * *

**Sixteen: Don't Drink the Wine**

As soon as the bonfire ended, a huge party commenced. It was held in the middle of the Omega of cabins so everyone had zero chance of sleep. The Hephaestus cabin set up wireless speakers and a DJ booth, Apollo cabin provided music, Hecate cabin provided light-shows and disco balls, Aphrodite cabin decorated the place with streamers, balloons, etc., and Dionysus cabin provided the alcohol—this could only be drunk by the 'of age' people; if an underage camper (or Mr. D himself) tried, it would turn to Kool-Aid, Diet Coke or water. The young children were confined to the party space with a magic barrier: they couldn't leave the party area without their parents, so them sneaking off and exploring was impossible.

It was quite the party. Leo had lasted at least six hours. Six hours of drinking, partying, and catching up…and Leo could remember _none_ of it the next day.

He was still okay and sober during the first hour. Leo kept a steady eye on the kids, making sure they weren't getting hurt. Lots of people tried to catch up with him while he played babysitter. He didn't mind, but every few minutes he'd keep glancing back at the toddlers playing tag. That was the only hour in which Leo was drinking something other than alcohol.

Hour two was where things began to get blurry. Someone had handed him a cup of special Dionysus wine.

Three cups later was where he realized he was hammered.

Five cups later was where he realized he couldn't walk properly.

Five more cups later was where he figured he was gonna die from alcohol poisoning.

Four cups later and he just let himself get on with his drunken stupor, forgoing all sense of sober dignity he might've had left.

Near hour three, Leo noticed his twins lying down on the porch of the Poseidon cabin. They were out like a light, oblivious to the loud music and partying people around them. Just a few feet away lay Sammy Zhang. Leo smiled and walked—well, more like drunkenly staggered—over to the three kids, waving Hazel over. She stumbled across to Sammy and picked him up gently. Leo did the same with the twins, trying to hold down the nausea from his drunken stupor as he bent down. They both settled their kids down into a single bed inside the cabin. Through his foggy haze, Leo could see Mark sleeping beside Lacy and Annabeth, who obviously wouldn't be drinking. Leo turned to Hazel and 'quietly' shushed her, so as not to wake the daughter of Athena and the very cranky kids (it went more like "SHUSH-SH-SH! Annahbetsh shleehp! HUSH-ESH-DEE-HUSH!").

Hour four was when Leo and Harley stupidly decided to have some fun with the Athena cabin. Well, it was more like drunk-Leo goading underage Harley into doing this, blackmailing his younger brother with empty threats. They snuck behind the cabin and Leo quickly built an automaton spider out of random shit from his tool belt. Harley opened the window closest to them and Leo threw the spider inside. From what he could tell, half the Athena campers were asleep, exhausted from the party. He and Harley watched as the spider scoped the room and went into the bed of the nearest camper. Not three seconds later screaming erupted from the cabin. Harley and Leo were on the ground laughing when the spider jumped out the window and retreated back to its creator. The Athena cabin saw this and viciously attacked the sons of Hephaestus. A few bruises and a couple gashes later, Leo was stumbling around the party looking for more trouble, conveniently forgetting about the prank he had just pulled off.

It was around hour five and a half when the alcohol finally caught up with Leo. He was joking around with the Stolls, having a marvelous time thinking up pranks and jokes, recounting past successes and failures, when suddenly…

…half of his dinner was on the Hermes twins' shoes. The Stolls didn't think anything of it and laughed, patting him on the back. Leo was dimly aware of someone helping him to the bathroom. He could hear others in there with him, also feeling a pretty crappy after-effect. Leo had always thought he could handle his alcohol. He'd gone out with Steve the monster a few times before the twins came, trying to drown his financial issues out with some mortal alcohol.

But he supposed cheap beer and Dionysus-level wine had two different effects on a person. And Leo was definitely feeling the latter's effect as his breakfast came up to join his dinner. Someone was holding his curly hair back, but it was too late, he knew.

Right as the party hit hour six, it all went black.

* * *

_**A/N: Fun times, right? Short chapter is short, but I hope you enjoyed Leo's drunken-ness. Even drunk, the father in him makes him be cute towards his kids. Hang on, though, 'cause it's about to get super fun in the next few chapters!**_


	18. Hangovers

_**Y'know, this was supposed to be a huge chapter, but I couldn't resist keeping you guys on edge. So here is the prequel of what's to come!**_

_**Oh, beware: the Fire Truck word has returned, so if you don't like it, please do your best to replace it in your mind :D**_

_**To guest: Piper does have a baby. His name is Mark :3 Or did you mean Piper needs to be preggers now with a Mark sibling?**_

_**Disclaimer: I own the kids. The adults are Rick's.**_

* * *

**Seventeen: Hangovers**

The first thing Leo was aware of was the pounding headache. The brain-smashing ogre had returned for Round II, apparently, and this time he'd brought a friend, who was kindly using a skull-splitting axe and/or claymore.

The second thing he was aware of was the overwhelming smell of sick. Leo's eyes flew open and locked onto the toilet he was cuddling. Leo groaned and winced as his head throbbed painfully. He heard some replies in the stalls surrounding him and raised his head.

From what Leo could see through the hangover haze, Nico—of all people—was passed out in a similar fashion next to his own toilet friend. His hair was covered in sick, as was most of his body; like he had missed the toilet bowl by _this_ much… (just think of the small space between two pinched fingers and that's it)

The door to the bathroom opened and Piper's voice echoed on the walls. "Leo?"

Leo almost answered, but he choked and laid his head back down. Piper's voice rang out again, her footsteps clicking on the tiles, making Leo's head throb more: "Leo, are you in here?"

He groaned as loud as he could, "Here…"

A few seconds later, Piper's shadow was resting on his body. Her hand found its way onto his shoulder. "Hey, man. It's 6 AM. You ok?"

"Fuuuuuckkkkk ooooooffff…" Leo growled. The universe just _wouldn't_ allow him a sleep-in day, would it?

"I'll get Harley."

A few minutes later, Leo, supported by Harley (who was dead tired), walked slowly outside the bathroom. When his eyes got used to the light, he saw the damage from last night.

Cups, banners, balloons, confetti and broken disco balls were littered _everywhere_. Leo felt sorry for the harpies that had to clean up the mess. He couldn't even see the ground it was so trashed outside!

Weaved in among the trash, like the pattern of a rug, were the adult demigods. Dozens of hung over demigods were laying on the ground, half of them still clutching their plastic cups, the other half snuggling with each other.

The Stolls were amongst the ones cuddling with themselves, looking like they had just shared the most intimate kiss.

Frank was passed out in one of the punch bowls, drooling.

Pants-less Jason was spread-eagled on one of the snack tables, his face buried inside a Jell-O mountain. Leo thought it interesting that Jason, the blonde Superman, was wearing Rainbow Dash boxers! He quickly grabbed his phone (fixed to not alert monsters by Leo himself) and snapped a picture. Such fun should really have been caught on tape.

Percy was on the Poseidon cabin porch. He apparently didn't make it to where he wanted to go, as he was face down on the stairs. There were crude drawings all over his body and face, like a Jigglypuff had decided it didn't like him sleeping during its performance.

_Aaaand save that pic for later,_ Leo thought after he snapped a photo really fast.

Leo's motor skills were back in business by the time they reached the door to the Poseidon cabin. He felt much better now than when he was on the bathroom floor.

"Gods, Leo, you stink," Harley commented.

"You'd stink too if the toilet was your best friend last night," Leo slurred. Gods, was that his voice? _I'm swearing off alcohol for a while…_

Leo looked over at the bunk the twins were supposed to be occupying. They were still there, wrapped in one blanket. Leo couldn't help but notice Sammy was also inside the blanket, but Tulio was in between him and Espie so he could care less about it for now. Annabeth was still peacefully asleep with Mark and Lacy while Hazel lay in the nearby corner with a pillow and small blanket.

Leo suddenly registered Harley's hurtful comment and felt self-conscious about his overwhelming stench. There was a small bathroom inside the cabin in which a tiny one-person shower was installed. Leo shuffled over to it and turned on the water. He shut the door, not before telling Harley, "I'll be out in a few minutes. Then I'm gonna go back to bed."

Leo dizzily stripped, almost falling once or twice trying to take off his overalls. He actually did fall twice trying to take off his socks and boxers. He checked the water, making sure it was the hottest it could go (because he loves hot showers), and stepped inside.

He passed out almost instantly.

And that was his fatal mistake.

* * *

_**A/N: Uh oh~! What's gonna happen!? *evil laughter at Leo's expense***_


	19. Jackasses (The Prank part 1)

_**Enjoy :D**_

_**I own nothing but the kids and Leo's terrible fate**_

* * *

**Eighteen: Jackasses (the Prank Part 1)**

Annabeth woke up to the sound of a shower going. She sighed and looked around at the clock on the wall. 6:24 AM. _Phew, that's early._ She studied her surroundings.

Mark Grace and Lacy were still curled up beside her, Lacy holding on to her mother's stomach, protecting her future brother or sister (Percy and Annabeth wanted to keep the gender a surprise). In the bed nearby, the Valdez twins were snuggled up inside a thick blanket with Sammy. Tulio was squished between Sammy and Esperanza. He looked quite uncomfortable, but didn't stir. Hazel was in the corner, wrapped in a thin blanket, her head resting on a travel pillow. Her dark face was flushed. Annabeth knew the daughter of Pluto was going to have a wicked hangover when she woke up.

_Thank the gods I'm pregnant or else I'd have ended up like that, too!_ She chuckled at the thought. Lacy woke up at the sudden vibrations. She looked at her mother with sleepy eyes.

"Gotta go pee…"

Annabeth glanced at the bathroom. The shower was still running, steam rising from beneath the door. "I think your daddy's using the shower, Sweetie."

"But I gotta go!" she whined. She hopped down from the bed, hopping up and down and doing a cute little pee dance.

"Okay," Annabeth said sympathetically. "Your potty is inside the bathroom, so please don't look at anything in the shower." _Please don't let Percy__ scar our baby girl._

"'Kay," Lacy said while toddling off to the steaming bathroom.

Annabeth rolled up into a sitting position, careful not to wake little Sora next to her. But who was she kidding? Mark was a _heavy_ sleeper. He could probably sleep through an earthquake and thunderstorm combined!

She looked over at the open door of the cabin. It took her a minute too long to register Percy passed out on the steps outside. _Wait, if Percy's outside…Who's in the shower?_

"Mommy? Who is that?"

Annabeth hurried as fast as her seven-months-pregnant body could go. Her daughter was standing in the doorway, pointing at the far end of the room that held the shower.

When Annabeth stepped inside the bathroom she immediately noticed the climate change. Steam curled around her. The whole room felt like the inside of the Amazon Rainforest. All it was missing was the smell of fruit and rain. But the room instead smelled like sick and shame. **_(A/N: That's almost a rhyme! :D)_**

Annabeth stepped closer to the shower. As she did, a shape began to form in the steam. When she got close enough for the shape to come into focus she rolled her eyes and sighed.

A small, semi-muscular, buck-naked Latino man was curled on the floor inside the shower, snoring. His skin was pruney, so Annabeth assumed he had been in there for quite a while. Thankfully, his ass was facing them, so Lacy hadn't seen anything worth scarring. Annabeth tore her eyes away from Leo and focused on his clothes.

_Charmander boxers? That's just wrong…Gods, his shirt looks awful. I hope he brought other clothes to wear. Hello? What's that in his overalls pocket?_

Annabeth picked up Leo's Android. She swiped the screen and guessed the password easily—seriously, it didn't take an Athena kid to figure out his password was McShizzle. The screen that popped up next made Annabeth snort: Percy's sleeping face was just _covered_ in permanent marker doodles! She swiped the screen to the next picture. It was Jason spread-eagled on a random table outside with no pants on.

That gave Annabeth an idea.

"Lacy," she whispered, picking up the little baby potty and handing it to her daughter. "I want you to take this and use it in the other room—preferably in the corner behind your granddad's statue. Don't come in here 'til I come back out, okay?"

"'Kay," Lacy answered simply. She took the potty in her hands and scurried off. Annabeth shut and locked the door behind her. She turned the phone's video on and faced the mirror, filming herself.

"Hi, I'm Annabeth Jackson," she said with an evil smile. "Welcome to Jackass: Demigod Style!"

* * *

_**A/N: 0:)**_

_**Leo: I hate you, Black. I really do. I cannot BELIEVE you did that to me! D:**_

_**Me: Shush! Don't spoil it, Leo! The readers don't know what's gonna happen yet!**_


	20. Makeover (The Prank part 2)

_**Bet y'all are curious about Leo's fatal mistake, huh? Here's Leo to tell you what he learned.**_

_**Leo: *grumble***_

_**Me: C'mon. Tell them what you've learned from the experience!**_

_**Leo: Don't fall asleep in the shower with a hangover...and **_**definitely_ don't do it with a revenge-seeking Annabeth nearby... ):_**

**_Me: :D Good, now, do the thing!_**

**_Leo: *sigh* Black does not own the characters (though I feel like she owns me atm) but she does own the kids and this AWFUL idea D:_**

**_Me: You heard him :3 Now, here's the chapter to prove Leo's aforementioned learning experience! And the Fire Truck word is here again, more than once this time._**

* * *

**Nineteen: Makeover (the Prank Part 2)**

Hazel woke up to the sound of a scream. She opened her eyes. Hazel knew she was slightly hung over, feeling feverish. She pushed down some nausea as she slowly sat upright. A tiny groan sounded from the bed beside her.

"Mooommyyy."

Hazel lifted herself up onto the bed, detangling Sammy from the blanket he was sharing with the Valdez twins. Said twins were snuggled so deeply inside the blanket Hazel had to wonder if they could breath. Sammy grabbed onto Hazel's shirt and buried his face in it. Soon, he was asleep again.

It was right about then she noticed the bathroom steaming. Muffled screams were coming from inside the bathroom. She stood up with Sammy still in her arms and shuffled across the cabin. She paused a moment when she heard Lacy call from behind the Poseidon statue, "Mommy says not to go in there 'til she come out."

Hazel set Sammy down on the ground near the statue. Sammy was still asleep so he curled into a ball right where he lay. Hazel went back towards the steamy bathroom and opened the door.

Annabeth met her. She had the biggest grin on her face. From behind her, Hazel could hear someone—Leo perhaps?—shouting, "Annabeth! Don't you fucking dare! Gimme back my phone! I swear on the River Styx if you don't give me back my phone—"

"Oh, I'll give it back," Annabeth said, wiggling the Android in the air. "_After_ I upload this video to the Stolls' YouTube account!"

She shut the door before Hazel could get a good look at the inside of the bathroom. Hazel could hear Leo screaming, "NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS! LET ME OUT!"

Hazel was curious now. "What video?"

Annabeth made sure none of the kids were nearby, though she held the phone high enough the kids probably couldn't see anyway. She swiped the screen to _**Gallery**_ and pressed the first video. The thumbnail had a picture of Annabeth staring into a mirror holding up the phone. In the corner, the length of the video flashed. It was a pretty long video at twenty minutes. Annabeth pressed 'play'.

* * *

The quality was beautiful. Hazel guessed Leo had modified the phone to live up to his own personal standards.

_Video-Annabeth sat there in front of a mirror for a moment. She then said, "Hi, I'm Annabeth Jackson. Welcome to Jackass: Demigod Style."_

* * *

Hazel giggled. She had seen the Jackass movies with Frank and had even done some Jackass-style pranks with Piper and Jason, but she never thought Annabeth as the type to do something like that—especially while expecting!

* * *

_Video-Annabeth spoke again in a hushed tone. "So, last night, one of my dearest friends returned after an eight-year disappearance. Our whole camp decided to throw a party. There was alcohol involved so I conked out early because of…well, obvious reasons." She gestured to her huge stomach. "Anyway, this morning, I woke up to this in my shower."_

_The camera moved away from the mirror towards the running shower. Steam rose from the ground, but the video adjusted instantly. Hazel saw the naked body of Leo Valdez curled up on the floor of the shower, his tan ass facing the camera, pressed up against the glass of the shower wall (It was one of those box-type showers with glass doors)._

_The camera zoomed in on Leo's head. His long curly black hair was plastered to his skin. Speaking of skin—_Hazel assumed the poor guy had been passed out at least an hour because_—he looked like a Latino raisin. Leo was snoring so loud Hazel could hear it clearly over the water raining down in the room._

_The camera lowered a bit, zoomed out and then came back to the mirror. Annabeth held up Leo's magical tool belt and zoomed that in as well. When it zoomed out again Annabeth spoke, "So, Leo's tool belt is magical, for those who don't know. It can give you anything—within reason—that can be found in a garage; like, say, rope?"_

_She reached into a pocket and pulled out about ten feet of nylon rope._

"_Or, perhaps, permanent marker?"_

_A non-washable permanent marker was pulled out next._

"_And even school scissors and a simple razor."_

_Out came the scissors, followed by a woman's razor._

"_And finally, I'm hoping for a tiny phone stand, or something to hold up the phone while it's recording, because this is going to take up both my hands."_

_The tool belt obliged. A small stand came out, one that could hold up the phone easily._

_Annabeth set each item down and zoomed into each one before starting again: "So, what do I plan to do, you ask? Step One: Set the phone on the phone stand and place it where the phone will get a good view of this."_

_The camera wiggled slightly as Annabeth adjusted it and set it on the ground. Leo was in perfect view now, and nothing but the glass door was obstructing him. Annabeth quickly rectified that by unhinging the door and setting it to the side off-screen._

* * *

Hazel was impressed by Annabeth lifting and doing something like this while seven months pregnant. She knew _she_ couldn't have done that while that far in with Sammy. No sir.

* * *

"_Step two," came Annabeth's voice. "Tie the victim up."_

_Annabeth came on screen and moved the shower head away from Leo so that it faced and sprayed the wall. She then took some of the rope, cut it in half with the scissors, and proceeded to tie Leo's hands behind his back. Before she moved to his feet, Annabeth took one of Leo's socks and placed it somewhere Hazel couldn't see in front of Leo. She then tied his ankles together and, using the last bit of rope, lifted and tied his ankles to the shower's faucet-head. Leo was now on his back, his goods nestled safely inside the sock from earlier_—which made Hazel blush and fan herself.

"_Step three," Annabeth breathed. "Proceed to write on him. This is a classic trick. One of my favorites."_

_The first thing to appear on Leo's wet skin was the classic penis-on-the-forehead. This was followed by some random artistic squiggles on his face, a couple of stick figures dancing on his abs and arms, a bunch of random words and sayings (some of which were quite colorful in vocabulary) wrapping their way around his body, and finally a huge __**TEAM ANNABETH**__ plastered right across his chest. How Leo kept snoring through it all was beyond Hazel's comprehension._

"_Step Four," Annabeth said with some evil. "This," was all she said._

_She pulled out the razor and shaved half of Leo's stubble-mustache off. Then, she shaved the opposite half of his chin stubble right off. As if that wasn't enough, Annabeth took the scissors and—_

* * *

Hazel gasped. "Oh my gods you didn't just do that!"

* * *

_Leo's hair now sort of resembled what it was when he was fifteen years old: a mop (almost literally) of curls. His once-shoulder-length hair was now just under his ear—well, part of it was, another part was halfway down to his shoulder, and another was still shoulder-length._

_Annabeth grabbed the tool belt and said, "Tape, please."_

_Clear scotch tape came out. Annabeth gathered the mangled pieces of black hair and faced the camera. "Step five: the Front Horsetail."_

Hazel burst out laughing as _Video-Annabeth proceeded to tape Leo's hair to the sock. When Annabeth moved out of the way to show her masterpiece to the camera, it truly did look like a black horsetail was sticking right out of the front of Leo's body._

_Annabeth stared right at the camera and said, "This is him getting off light for disappearing for eight years. He should be thankful I went easy on him."_

_Annabeth stood up slowly and grabbed the phone. The camera lifted and zoomed in on the still-sleeping form of Leo. He was still asleep with that peaceful expression, which made it oh so much funnier. _Hazel was crying, she was laughing so hard._ The camera zoomed out and Annabeth faced the mirror._

"_Now," she said with a smirk. "We complete step six: Rude awakening. As you may have guessed from the steam, Leo likes to take showers at the highest possible temperature. Well, I'm going to fix that."_

_She moved the shower head back. The boiling water beat against Leo's face, but the marker doodles stayed strong. Leo didn't really react to the water at all; he snorted once, but regained his peaceful sleeping composure seconds later._

_The camera moved to the shower dials. One was for hot, the other for cold. Cold was completely turned off while Hot was all the way up. Annabeth's hand came into view as she reversed the temperature dials so that it was Cold on high and no Hot at all._

_The camera quickly turned back to Leo._

* * *

Hazel could almost feel the temperature in the video drop about a hundred degrees.

* * *

_Not seconds after the cold hit, Leo's eyes flew open and he screamed, "HOLY HEPHAESTUS!"_

_Laughter erupted from behind the camera as Leo struggled against his bonds, squeezing his eyes shut at the stinging cold rain pounding his face. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get away from the freezing cold water, or even get out of his bonds. It was far too cold for him to catch fire now that he was soaked._

_When he registered Annabeth's laughter, he paused. "Annabeth?" he asked, bewildered, with his eyes still closed. "What the flying fuck, Annabeth?"_

_Annabeth turned the camera back to the mirror. Her face was red and her eyes puffy. As she spoke her voice shook with laughter. "Hope you enjoyed Jackass: Demigod Style! Bye!"_

_The video ended._

* * *

Hazel was on the ground. She clutched at her stomach, trying to breathe. "Oh…gods…that's…hilarious!"

Annabeth leaned up against the wall, laughing. "Right?"

A crash sounded from inside the bathroom, followed by a bunch of Spanish curses. The girls heard fumbling, meaning Leo was up, but his limbs were probably still bound. Suddenly a clear as day yell rang out from behind the door:

"WHAT THE FUCK!?"

Annabeth threw the phone to Hazel and muttered, "Get it to the Stolls! Make sure they broadcast it!" With that, she ran as fast as she could to the closet nearby and hid inside. Hazel warned Lacy not to give away her mother before she, too, ran off.

Right as she reached the porch outside, a huge crash came from behind her. She looked back and saw a fuming, wet, and shivering Leo with choppy, uneven hair, half a mustache, a semi-smudged-off penis on his forehead, multiple squiggles and marker stains all over his body, and a completely intact _**TEAM ANNABETH**_ plastered on his chest. His feet were wrapped in rope remains, and his hands were still bound behind his back. _Somehow_, Leo had managed to get his—Hazel snorted—_Charmander_ boxers on, which was an improvement to the horsetail sock.

One look in Hazel's direction and Leo's bloodshot eyes blazed. Hazel tried to hide the phone behind her back, but it was too late. He'd seen it.

Leo roared, "HAZEL! GIMME MY PHONE!"

"Nope," was all she said before running and jumping off the porch, sailing past Percy.

Footsteps sounded behind her, but Hazel didn't look back. She scanned the area for the Stoll brothers. Thankfully, they were awake and standing not twenty feet away. They looked extremely embarrassed by something, but Hazel was too busy running to think about it further. She yelled, "STOLLS! Over here!" Hazel waved at them, grabbing their attention.

The Stoll brothers looked at her and then looked at something behind her, their eyes bulging and jaws dropping. Hazel heard another yell—way too close this time—from behind her, "DON'T YOU DARE, HAZEL! DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE!"

Hazel tossed the phone just seconds before Leo body slammed her. The Stolls immediately assessed the situation, grinned evilly together, and ran towards the dropped phone.

Leo tried desperately to crawl towards the phone, but Travis Stoll reached it first. He ran off with Connor, shouting over their shoulders, "We'll make sure the whole camp sees what's on this phone, Leo! Don't you worry your pretty little head!"

With that, the brothers disappeared behind Cabin Eleven and up the hill to New Athens.

Leo lay still. His face was planted in the dirt. He was taking huge breaths, Hazel could see it as his shoulder blades rose and fell. Hazel took pity on him and untied his hands.

Leo didn't bother moving his hands. Either he didn't realize he was no longer bound or he just didn't care at this point.

Piper came running up, dragging a sluggish Jason behind her. "Leo! What's happened, Leo? We heard you screaming and—what is up with your hair?"

Leo froze. Hazel could almost see the realization seize her friend: He had come outside looking like _that_! To Hades with the video, people could see the real thing out here, _right now_!

Hazel bent down and took Leo's hand. "Let me help you."

"You've done enough." The amount of venom in Leo's voice made Hazel shiver.

She pulled Piper aside and asked her to get two bed sheets, two buckets of soap and water, a razor and some scissors. Piper nodded and ran off, returning a few minutes later with all of the requested items. Hazel sent Jason off to find Festus and get Leo a change of clothes.

Leo hadn't moved the entire time. When Jason returned with a pair of jeans and a clean white t-shirt, Hazel had him and Piper hold the bed sheets up while Hazel went to work. It took some coaxing but she finally got Leo to sit up.

The damage had been done, that was for sure. Hazel felt bad for laughing at Leo a few minutes earlier. He wouldn't meet her gaze as she worked on scrubbing the penis off. That took nearly ten minutes, but Leo didn't complain. He just sat there and stared at the ground. Once that was done, she set to work on the rest of his face. Hazel left the stuff on his arms and chest for him to get later. She set the razor in the soap and water and shaved the last bit of his stubble away. Hazel switched places with Piper, telling her to use the scissors and work some Aphrodite magic on his poor hair. Hazel watched as Leo's hair began to even out under the scissors, the length ultimately ending up below his ear, just like it used to be. Piper stood up, handing him the extra clothes. Hazel turned her head and let Leo change into the shirt and jeans.

When he was done, Leo stood up. Hazel turned. He didn't look so bad now. In fact, he looked almost like he did when he was fifteen—almost. He wasn't smiling right now, that was mostly what was different. The other difference was his broader, more muscular body. His muscles made his shirt quite tight against his skin, especially in the arms department.

Not that Hazel was complaining! Leo looked very handsome as a not-so-scrawny-anymore Latino.

Hazel hugged him. To her surprise, he didn't try to escape: he hugged back.

"I'm sorry, Leo," Hazel whispered. "I really am."

"I know," Leo's voice was barely a whisper, but Hazel caught the sincere tone.

Leo pulled away first. Hazel caught his face this time. He was…pouting?

"What's with the face?" she dared to ask.

Leo faced her, his boyish pout ever present. "I'm _not_ looking forward to that video." He said this with a childish sort of whine. "Maaaan…" He threw his head back and groaned.

Hazel giggled. "To be fair, it was rather hilarious."

"I'm never gonna live this down…"

Piper clapped her hand on his shoulder. "Well, when it comes up, I imagine you're going to just have to deal with it like a big boy."

Jason nodded. "If you can't handle your beer, then don't try…" he lost his slurred train of thought as he hiccuped, wincing as the hangover troll beat against his brain.

Leo smirked. "Y'know, it's funny you should say that, Superman. It's pretty interesting you wear Rainbow Dash boxers, isn't it?"

Jason paled.

Leo continued, "I mean, I had to wonder why you were wearing such lovely undies, so I took a picture for future generations to mull over as well."

"You didn't."

"And that picture just happens to be on my phone, which is in the hands of the Stolls."

Piper and Hazel burst out laughing. Jason stumbled away, feeling just as embarrassed as Leo felt. Said son of Hephaestus was triumphantly grinning like a madman.

After a couple minutes, Leo promptly yawned and headed away.

"Where are you going?" Piper asked.

"I'm sleeping with Festus," he answered sleepily. "If anyone asks, tell them I ran away again. I'll come back when I wake up…"

And with that, Leo disappeared into the woods.

* * *

_**A/N: Holy Hephaestus that was a long-ass chapter, which is why I split it up into three! It took me a long while to write that prank/punishment out, and by the time I was finished it was 4:30 in the morning.**_

_**I was considering a butt-plug as well, but figured Leo might actually wake up to that (he's not Mark-level heavy sleeper), and Annabeth has at least a little bit of pride, meaning she didn't want to go near his asshole on camera. So I nixed it. I'm still all sorts of evil! :D**_

_**Next chapter is the long-awaited prophecy! Rachel gets to participate in everyone's new favorite holiday as well!**_


	21. Prophecy

_**Happy Labor Day! Not that anyone cares...**_

_**Glad you all liked that last chapter! To Magic Milk: Don't worry, Leo's not a punching bag. He let himself get beat up at the reunion because he knew he deserved it for being gone so long. However, the whole Annabeth Prank will not go unpunished. Leo can't do anything to her right now because she's pregnant. He'll think of something later, though, trust me! :D**_

_***legasp* Oh, gods! It's time! It's time to hear the PROPHECY! Here we go~!**_

_**Disclaimer: The kids...are mine. The adults...not so much...**_

* * *

**Twenty: Prophecy**

When Leo returned three hours later, feeling refreshed from his Festus-guarded nap (he had flown Festus about five miles away just to be safe), he had almost forgotten about this morning's problem.

The looks and snickers he got from the campers made him remember instantly. He puffed out his chest, held his head high and walked to the Poseidon cabin like he owned the place. There was _no_ _way_ he was going to look embarrassed about this. He wasn't going to give them the satisfaction.

The whole area was considerably cleaner. The harpies were probably just _thrilled_ at the job they had had to undertake.

As he stepped into the Poseidon cabin, Leo was instantly tackled by the twins.

"_Papi_ back! _Papi_ back!" They were bouncing up and down. Leo couldn't help but notice the new clothes. Espie was now wearing a clean blue dress with white accents, her hair pulled into two ponytails by her favorite dolphin bands. Tulio was sporting a tiny orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and jeans.

Leo smiled. His son looked almost _exactly_ like a mini-Leo with that outfit on! The only thing he was missing was a layer of grease and a tiny tool belt.

"Oh, look at you!" Leo exclaimed, lifting his twins one-by-one into the air and spinning around a couple of times. "Where'd you get the new dreads?"

"They're a combination of clothes borrowed from Lacy and Sammy." A certain woman's voice made Leo's stomach churn, but he kept his composure when he faced her.

"Annabeth," was all he said. He raised his chin high.

Annabeth snickered. "Well, at least you look better now. I think this is an improvement to how you looked yesterday when you first arrived."

"I liked my stubble."

"I didn't."

"And my hair."

"Were you trying to look like a girl?"

"Why the binding?"

"I needed time to get my pregnant-ass out of there."

Leo and Annabeth glared at each other for a solid minute before Percy stepped out of the bathroom. His skin was red and raw, like he had taken steel wool to his whole body.

"Hey Leo," he said sympathetically. "So, uh…I take it you had a good nap?"

Leo nodded. "Yup. You have a good bath?"

Percy shrugged. "As good as they come, I suppose. I think I'm swearing off Mr. D's wine forever, though."

"Same here."

An awkward silence ensued. It was broken by Tulio grabbing Leo's pants leg. "Why _Papi_ look…diff-rnt?"

Leo smiled. "_Papi_ was trying to go for a new look. Since we're not in Houston, I figured I'd change my appearance a bit to look more _presentable_."

Annabeth snickered at the lie. Leo glared daggers at her and she turned away.

"C'mon, kids, let's go get some breakfast!"

"Yay!"

The twins eagerly ran out the door of the cabin. Leo gave Annabeth one last glare and flipped her the bird before exiting.

Once Leo was outside, he kept the twins close to him at all times. Just the sight of the easily scarred and impressionable two-year-olds was enough to keep the gloaters and prank re-tellers at bay, for which Leo was extremely grateful. He did _not_ need to relive that awful part of the day, and could go his whole life without seeing the video Annabeth shot of him passed out in the shower. But, he had a feeling he was going to see it later on during or after the quest…

Leo sat the twins on his knees while he sat at a random table. The dining pavilion was pretty much deserted, considering breakfast was long over, so Leo didn't really think about seating arrangements. He didn't care, anyway. He was too old to care about anyone's super-special-cabin-number-whatever-camper-only spot anymore. If Chiron bitched about it later, Leo would let him bitch. He was hungry.

The plates filled with food easily enough. Leo felt like having another waffle-egg tower today (though the thought of the last one's fate made him feel queasy). The twins wanted the same, so Leo grabbed one of the plates and cut the second humongo tower in half, splitting it for his twins.

As they ate, Leo helped them be polite little buggers: "_Mijo_, when we are at home, do you chew with your mouth open? Then why would you do that here, hmm?"

"Espie, swallow before talking."

"Take smaller bites, guys; there's no rush."

"Stop playing with your food; this is not home, so we should act nicer to the food, ok?"

Someone suddenly sat down in front of them. Leo glanced up and smiled at Harley before returning to his meal.

"Why'd you sit here, Leo?"

Leo looked up again. "Hmm? Why? I dunno. Closest to the door? Why do you ask?"

"Do you remember which table this is?"

"Nope."

"It's the Hephaestus Cabin table."

Leo's memory clicked. _Oh, yeah! Must've been old habit that led me to the table._

"If memory serves," Harley continued, "I believe you always laid claim to that seat. You always threatened to hammer someone in the head if they stole your spot!"

Leo and Harley laughed. Tulio and Esperanza looked at the adults with curiosity. It occurred to Leo that he had never properly introduced his half-brother to the kids personally.

"Ah," Leo coughed. "Harley, it seems you haven't actually met your niece and nephew yet! Where are my manners?"

"Oh, I already met Tulio," Harley smiled. "I never got to, uh, express my thanks for that joke. It was actually pretty funny now that I look back at it. Brilliant!"

Leo introduced him to Espie and Harley held out his hand to the twins. He had meant for them to shake it, but Tulio and Espie were too fascinated by his hand. They grabbed the hand and started inspecting it like it was a fascinating bug under a magnifying glass.

"Something wrong with my hand, guys?" Harley joked, raising an eyebrow at Leo. Leo shrugged back, looking at Harley's well calloused and scarred hands, not noticing anything wrong.

"Like _Papi_," Tulio said softly. "Rough. Me like."

"Yes," Espie agreed. "Hand like _Papi,_ not like Percy! Me like _Papi_ hands!"

"Ah, I get it," Leo realized. "They've never seen someone with hands as rough as mine. No one around our street works as hard as I do. The kids don't like soft hands, apparently!"

The two half-siblings shared a laugh. Leo poked the twin in their sides and said, "Tulio, Espie, this is Harley. He's your uncle."

"Uncle?" both twins asked together.

"It means he's your _Papi_'s brother. Tulio is your brother, Espie. Harley is mine."

Their mouths shaped perfect 'O's before turning back to Harley and yelling, "UNCLE!"

Harley smiled at Leo. Leo noted the faraway look in his sibling's eyes. "It's good to have you back, bro. We missed you so much…"

Leo held up his hand. "Nah, don't start getting sappy with me! When I'm done with this quest and get my memories, I will then let you guys beat me up and drown me with your tears. Right now I don't have anything to go on that would justify making you feel that way."

Harley nodded. "I understand. Say, when you guys are done with breakfast, do you wanna come down into the forge? Or, do you not let your kids near that stuff?"

The twins perked up at the word 'forge'. They looked to their father hopefully, with big puppy-dog eyes and trembling lips. Leo sighed. He could never resist that look… "They love the forge in my shop, though I've always made sure to keep them away from the swords and stuff. It's no more dangerous there than here, so why not?"

His family cheered.

* * *

About two hours later, Leo finally had to drag himself and his twins out of the Cabin Nine forges. He had an oracle to find and couldn't waste much more time. He knew there wasn't a time limit on this quest, but he felt he _needed_ to get his memories back as soon as possible. That, and he had customers to get back to in Houston. Gods knew he needed their money to survive nowadays. This unscheduled vacation was not going to help his financial situation in the long run.

The camp was gathering around the Big House. Actually, make that the camp _plus_ dozens of New Athenians. He motioned to squeeze past the people in front of him , but as soon as they noticed him the sea of demigods instantly parted.

When he made it up to the Big House steps, he saw a familiar freckled red-headed young woman. _Rachel's here!_

He tripped up the steps, leaving the twins lost in the crowd. "Hey, Rachel! Long time no see! How you been?"

Apparently that was not the correct thing to say. Immediately after the words left his lips, Leo recoiled back from a hard slap. The whole crowd of demigods laughed.

Leo nervously looked up at the oracle, holding his hands up in surrender. Rachel shook her head. "Chiron informed me about your situation. I felt like you deserved a slap anyway."

More laughs erupted from the crowd. Leo smiled. "Guess Beat-Up-Leo Day is a two-day event!" That got some people rolling.

"So, I hear you need a prophecy," Rachel said, crossing her arms. "Any requests?"

"One that doesn't require me dying would be nice," Leo joked. _Like we can choose what kind of prophecy we want!_

Percy and Hazel joined him on the steps, leading the twins up. Just as the twins reunited with their father via hug, Rachel's eyes glowed. Her body stiffened as green smoke rose up from her mouth.

Leo held his breath. _Here it comes_, Leo thought. _Please don't predict my death!_

The Oracle's words echoed through the air:

_**As Fire flies east to the long dream's end,**_

_**The rules the son of the Forge will bend.**_

_**There are two groups of three, equaling six,**_

_**But one group travels to rewrite the Styx.**_

_**When at last Sea and Death open Fire's gates,**_

_**The Titan's children shall amend the fates.**_

Rachel collapsed as the last line's echo faded. Percy caught her on the way down. Tulio shivered against his father.

"Scary," he mumbled. "Scary lady."

Leo ruffled his hair. "That mist is nothing, _mijo_," he reassured. "Wait'll you see how she plays ping pong. Now _that's_ scary!"

The toddler didn't seem to understand the joke but smiled anyway. Leo always tried to stay cheerful around his children—especially Tulio, who could pick up slight changes in Leo's mood in an instant. It helped to keep calm and cheerful, teaching his kids to always smile in seemingly bad situations, even if they weren't that bad—like this one.

Chiron motioned for him to follow as he clopped into the Big House. Leo nodded to Percy and Hazel. Piper, Jason, Annabeth and Frank followed them in, their kids (and Rachel) in tow. Before the door to the Big House closed, Nico weaseled his way inside.

Leo thought it weird to see everyone in the same room again. For one second he could imagine them all sitting in the mess hall of the _Argo II_, discussing their plans on defeating Gaea, joking around, eating pizza and nachos. Then he saw the kids on the knees of the Seven and the memory melted away. They aged in an instant, the background shifting back to the Big House. He sighed inwardly.

"So," Chiron began. "A new prophecy for the Seven."

"Well, some of us, at least," Annabeth corrected. "There were six mentioned in the prophecy, and as far as we know only three of the Seven—Leo, Percy and Hazel—are going to be involved."

"Quite right. Let us discuss some of the lines then, shall we?"

"The first one," Leo said, bouncing Espie on his knee as he spoke. "'As Fire flies east to the long dream's end'. That's pretty obvious. I'm Fire. And I know where I have to go: Madrid, Spain. That's where I woke up three years ago, feeling like I had woken up from a dream."

"But, if you're Fire," Frank wondered, "then who would the son of the Forge be?"

They were all silent for a few moments. Then Piper spoke. "If I recall correctly: during our first quest—the one to save Hera—Leo was the Forge in one of the prophecy lines. Maybe this line means…"

She let that hang. All eyes locked onto Tulio, who was starting to doze on Leo's other thigh, leaning against his father's chest. Leo narrowed his eyes. "No, absolutely not! There is no way Tulio is involved in this! He's too young for prophecies yet!"

Chiron knit his brows. "I know you must feel protective, Leo, but the Fates have their own plans. If Tulio is a part of this, it will be known soon enough."

"I highly doubt he could do anything," Nico interjected. "If anything, I think the Forge could be Hephaestus and the son could be one of your younger half-brothers. They're old enough to be on quests."

Leo nodded, feeling a little relieved at this thought. As long as it wasn't Tulio, Leo could care less on who the son of the Forge was.

"Speaking of children," Jason continued. "What was that last line? 'The Titan's children shall amend the Fates'…What does it mean by 'Titan's children'?"

Hazel's eyebrows raised. "Maybe that means the Big Three or Hestia, Hera or Demeter? They were children of the Titans, right?"

"There are also other Titan children," Percy said. "Like—"

_SCREEEEEEEEECH!_

Leo blinked, shaking his head. He put a finger in his ear, trying to remove the horrible screeching sound from his head. He looked around. No one else was reacting to the noise. They were talking as if it was silent.

And then regular sound returned. "—could mean anything, really. I guess we'll just have to find out in time," Percy finished.

"What was that?" Leo asked.

"What?"

"That noise. It was like a harpy just screeched in my ear while running her claws on a chalkboard! Didn't any of you hear it?"

They all looked at him like he was crazy. "I'll take that as a 'no', then…Carry on, don't mind my going mad over here…" He waved it off and let the conversation continue.

They rambled on about the prophecy for a good twenty minutes more, but none of them had any clue on what the lines meant apart from the first one. The two groups of three were decided easily enough: Leo, Hazel and Percy were the ones that would 'travel to rewrite the Styx'—whatever that meant—and Frank, Piper and Jason would be the second group, possibly to serve as a backup in case something went wrong and the first needed rescuing. Chiron seemed at ease with that, albeit a bit apprehensive about it being that easily decided.

Leo shuddered at whatever his 'gates' were. Whatever that meant, it didn't sound pleasant.

"So when do we leave?" Hazel asked.

"Hang on," Leo interjected. "There's one more thing to decide here: Obviously Sammy is staying with Frank and Lacy with Annabeth, but I'm not gonna ask any of you guys to watch over Tulio and Espie for gods know how long while you all have kids of your own! Where are they gonna go?"

They all sat there for a second. Leo knew they knew he was right: Annabeth was expecting and was already taking care of a three-year-old; Jason and Piper had Mark the one-year-old, and Leo knew how hard it was to take care of a baby at that stage; And Frank had two-year-old Sammy. None of them had the time, space, or energy to take on twins—especially the fire-using, ADHD, rambunctious twins of Leo Valdez.

Leo considered Nico for about a split second, but then decided against it. That man still gave him the freaky-deakies. He was sure the twins wouldn't warm up to the guy very quickly, and that Nico probably had better death-related things to do.

"What about one of your siblings?"

Every demigod in the room jumped a foot in the air. They had forgotten Rachel was in the room. She shrugged and continued, "I'd take them, but I got business and school to handle. Plus, I doubt I'd be able to control them, considering how hard it is to control you…" She smirked at Leo and he pulled a face in return.

"I just figured one of the other children of Hephaestus would be able to handle the fire god's legacies better than someone else."

Harley was the first person to come to Leo's mind. The kids seemed to like their uncle, and he did pretty well keeping them in check down in the forges. From what he had seen down there, Leo guessed Hephaestus hadn't been _too much_ of a busy bee in the women department these days, since there were about six campers—seven, counting Harley—total at the moment. That meant space would be available for a couple of two-year-old twins in the Cabin, easily.

"That okay with you, Chiron?" Leo asked tentatively.

The centaur nodded. "Of course. As long as Cabin Nine is alright with the setup, I see no reason why the twins can't stay there during your quest."

Espie, still bouncing on Leo's knee, cheered. She had followed the latter half of the conversation pretty well, and seemed excited at the prospect of staying with Uncle Harley. Tulio was now fully asleep on Leo's thigh, his face buried in Leo's white shirt.

"Then I guess we can leave in a couple hours?" Leo said. "I can drop the kids off at the cabin while you guys pack."

The meeting adjourned quickly after that and all of the demigods left. Chiron had made Rachel stay behind to discuss something with her.

Leo gently carried Tulio towards the Hephaestus Cabin. Espie followed close behind, skipping. A thought came to Leo. He stopped and crouched down, gently shaking his son awake.

Tulio looked up with sleepy almond eyes. He rubbed them and yawned. "Sleepy…"

"I know, _mijo_," Leo sympathized. "But _Papi_ needs to discuss something with you and Esperanza. I need you both to pay attention, okay?"

Espie toddled closer to hear her father. Tulio nodded, waking up more.

Leo took a deep breath. "Alright. Tulio, you remember when Percy said 'mother' and you wanted to know what that was?"

Tulio nodded. "Well," Leo continued, "When you see Sammy with Frank, what do you think the big guy is to him?"

Espie put on her thinking face, scrunching her nose up cutely. "Frank Sammy's _Papi_!"

"That's right. What about Hazel?"

Tulio answered, "Sammy's _Papi_, too. How come Sammy get two _Papi_s?"

"No. Not quite. A Mother is like _Papi_, but way better in some ways. You know how you and Sammy are boys and Lacy and Espie are girls?"

"Girls icky."

"Yes, _mijo_." Leo smiled. "Well, _Papi_ is a boy. Frank and Percy are boys. Hazel is a girl. Only boys can be a _Papi_. So, what is Hazel?"

Espie and Tulio both scrunched up their faces. Finally, Espie answered, "Mother?"

"That's right," Leo said, grinning. "Mothers—or Mommies—are just the girl version of _Papi_s. Hazel is Sammy's Mommy. Annabeth is Lacy's Mommy."

"Who our Mommy?" Tulio asked, tilting his head.

_Aaaand kudos to Tulio being the too-smart-for-his-own-good twin._

"Well," Leo said nervously. "That's kinda why we're here. _Papi_ doesn't know who your Mommy is. We came here to start looking for her. Now _Papi_ has to go far away to find out who she is."

"We go too?" Espie asked.

"No," Leo said flatly. "This is for me, Percy and Hazel. You guys are staying here with Uncle Harley. You'll get to play with him, Sammy and Frank, Annabeth and Lacy, and Jason, Piper and Mark!"

"Wanna goooooo," Tulio whined.

"Uh-uh." Leo held up a finger. "What does _Papi_ say about whining?"

Tulio dropped his gaze. "No do."

"Correct. Now," he turned to each of his twins, "I want you to behave for your Uncle Harley while I'm gone, okay? Think you can be good?"

Espie frowned. "_Papi _come back?"

Leo smiled. "Yes. _Papi_ come back. I promise. And when I do, the first thing I'll do is tell you who your Mommy is. I swear."

The twins didn't look convinced. Leo took it up a notch. "I swear on the River Styx that I will tell you who your Mommy is the moment I see you again." Thunder rumbled in the distance. Though the toddlers didn't know about Stygian promises, they sensed the seriousness in his tone and nodded.

Leo picked Tulio up again. "I won't be gone long," he whispered. "Now, let's go see your uncle about giving you a place to stay!"

* * *

_**A/N: Ok, the concept of Mom is a very hard thing to explain, isn't it? Especially to a two-year-old.**_

_**Oh, and the prophecy! Excitement in the air! What lies ahead for our favorite 24-year-old mechanic?**_

_**PS: I know Leo hasn't really seen New Athens, I may or may not be too lazy to write about it. It honestly has no other place in the story besides giving the demigods a place to stay—it bothers me that the Greeks have to go out and survive and (possibly) die on their own after their time in camp while the Romans have a nice place to stay when they retire. Hence: New Athens. This idea better happen, Rick!**_


	22. Off We Go

_**Here we are, then! The journey begins!**_

_**Disclaimer: Kids=mine. Adults=Rick**_

* * *

**Twenty-One: Off We Go**

Percy found it a little insulting that the entire camp and half the New Athenians came to send Leo off. He never got such a send-off! Leo had been back a day and suddenly everyone thought he was off to save the world…again.

Not very many of them actually said 'good luck' to Percy or Hazel. They all just huddled around Leo, disappointed that he was leaving again so soon. Some of them—namely Cabin 9—were super excited that the twins were staying behind. It was like they were just waiting to test out how much they truly resembled their father, which made Percy nervous. The one thing the camp didn't need was a couple of tiny Leos running around being encouraged by others to burn down random stuff…

Festus creaked and stomped around, making it hard for Percy to put his bags inside the secret compartment. He clearly wanted to get going. Leo hopped on after saying goodbye to his twins and handing the baby bag to Harley. Percy commended Tulio and Espie for being such troopers. From the way Leo was acting, it seemed as if he had never been separated from them for so long before and was expecting the twins to rampage at his leaving. So far, the twins seemed to be coping well.

Lacy was still pouty. She didn't like being away from her father for very long. Percy was hoping Annabeth could hold out until he returned. He was determined to get this over with ASAP and come back _before_ their new baby came.

Hazel and Frank shared one last kiss before the former hopped up behind Leo. Sammy, who had received a kiss before his father, waved good-bye with sad eyes.

Percy kissed his girls bye and climbed up to sit behind Hazel.

"Alrighty," Leo whooped. Then, he covered his mouth and said in a muffled pilot's voice, "Thank you for flying Air Festus! My name is Leo Valdez, and I will be your captain this evening. Please fasten your seatbelts and lift up your tray tables. Turn off all cell phones as it interferes with the equipment—"

"Get on with it, dumbass." Hazel punched Leo in the back. Leo grinned back at her.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are cleared for takeoff," Leo said in his pilot-voice. "Let's go, Festus!"

Festus roared. The crowd of demigods took a few steps back. The dragon suddenly lurched forward and soared into the sky at a speed that would've torn a normal jet plane apart. Percy almost felt like he was riding on Arion and Blackjack combined: Arion's speed and Blackjack's sassy flying. He suddenly wished he wasn't at the back of the line. No one would catch him if he fell…!

"Holy Hera, Leo! Slow the fuck down!"

A couple seconds later Percy could feel the weight of wind decease. He was able to breathe properly (albeit breathe properly while spitting Hazel's hair out of his mouth).

Percy saw that they were already over the Atlantic Ocean. He sensed they were about 350 miles out already. _Holy shit…_

"Leo, how can Festus go that fast?" Percy said, spitting out Hazel's hair.

"Sorry," Hazel said, pulling her cinnamon-colored hair into a ponytail and then wrapping it in a loose bun.

Leo turned his head, grinning. "Made modifications after the Giant War! Don't know why he needed to go that fast at first, but it sure came in handy!"

"Indeed," Hazel replied. "So, you said we're heading to…where, again?"

"Madrid, Spain." Leo's eyes clouded slightly. "As I said, it's where the fog is the heaviest and where it feels like I woke up from a dream. That line in the prophecy says 'long dream's end'. That place fits the bill."

"Alright," Percy nodded. "So, how long 'til we get there?"

"Hang on, lemme do this first."

Leo pressed a button on Festus's neck. Festus shuddered and suddenly the group was surrounded by a bubble. It shimmered once then disappeared again.

"'Kay," Leo said, turning his torso toward the passengers. "Anti-monster bubble. Keeps us invisible while masking our scent. Kinda like how I did it on the _Argo_ _II_ but now it actually _is_ gonna work! Completely fool-proof!" He patted Festus's hide proudly.

"Because only a fool could build something fool-proof," Hazel snickered.

Leo clutched his chest in mock hurt. "I could throw you off this dragon, you know."

"How long, fool?" Percy repeated, smiling.

"About seven hours."

Percy grimaced. "My ass is already falling asleep at the sound of that! At least we had stuff to do on the _Argo II_! What are we supposed to do on a dragon for seven hours?"

"We could do each other's hair, paint our nails and have a pillow fight?"

Hazel slapped him playfully. "It's like you never grew up!"

Leo grinned. "Never said I did!"

"You're such a child."

Leo grinned wider and wiggled his eyebrows. "You're such a mom!"

"And proud of it!"

Percy smiled at their banter. If not for them being eight years older, he would swear they were on their way to some random side quest while still battling their way to Athens to defeat Gaea. Percy couldn't believe Leo hadn't changed that much. Well, sure, in looks he certainly changed (though Annabeth's 'makeover' soon rectified that) but his personality was almost exactly the same!

"Well, I don't know about you two," Hazel said. "But I'm gonna catch a few z's. If either of you try anything…"

"I've had enough of vengeful girls for one day," Leo said, holding his hands up in surrender. "You go right ahead and rest. I'll take the first watch."

"No, I will." Percy could see Leo was pretty tired, even though the mechanic had slept through most of the day. "You look beat, dude. Twins run you around camp before we left?"

"They may or may not have gotten their revenge on me leaving by playing hide-and-seek in the forge." He paused. "_And_ Harley and my siblings may or may not have put a magic blindfold on me and made me find the twins with it on."

Percy insisted Leo take a nap for a couple hours. Leo finally agreed and set his head down on Festus's neck. Hazel snuggled up close and laid down on Leo's back. The two were out in a few minutes.

Percy glanced around at the expanse of sea below them. A couple of Hippocampi were jumping around below. Percy hoped Leo was right about the monster-proof bubble. A couple of harpies were flying lazily above them, going the opposite direction, towards the setting sun.

Boredom kicked in within minutes. Percy shifted and wiggled on the dragon. He sighed, wishing he had brought a magazine or something.

Festus whirred and creaked. A small compartment opened up between Percy and Hazel. Percy reached inside and pulled a lever. Instantly, a small TV screen popped up in front of him, complete with buttered popcorn and (funnily enough) blue coke. The TV show _**Psych**_ started playing from episode one. Percy leaned back a bit and smiled smugly.

"Thanks Leo."

Said fire-user merely shifted in his sleep, wearing the stupidest grin on his face.

* * *

_**A/N: So, I may or may not have been watching Psych while writing this…If you don't know what show that is, you should watch it. It's actually really good! :D**_

_**Next up is *legasp* Harley's POV! Ooh! The story shall now continue in the Leo quest chapter-twins chapter-Leo quest chapter format.**_

_**We're 2/3rds of the way done, guys! Well, actually, we're just a little over halfway done! Are you excited!?**_


	23. Bedtime Hardships

_**Twin-fluff time! Well, more like burned-twin-fluff time :D**_

_**AwesomestPerson: Wow, I don't know about as good as the original! That's a huge compliment, thank you! However, it soon won't be every day D: I'm reaching the end of my pre-written chapters, so updates will come slower soon. DON'T WORRY! I got the whole story planned out, so it won't discontinue! I swear on the River Styx I WILL finish this!**_

_**Cary: Hades is an Olympian. Just because he doesn't live on Olympus doesn't make him a Titan. He is as much a god as his brothers and sisters. And sorry, though I like Nico (third favorite character in HoO), he doesn't really get much of a role. What you saw of him so far is basically all you get :(**_

_**Guest: It has to end sometime! D: Otherwise I wouldn't be able to start the next story! *drops the penny and waits for reactions :3***_

_**Chris:**__** Yup, there isn't much to this story after the quest, other than the highly possible and occasional one-shots. But the next story will also involve the twins, Sammy, Mark, Lacy and unnamed Percabeth baby! *even more happiness at that spoiler-reactions encouraged***_

_**Okay! Since we really don't know Harley that well as an eight-year-old, I'm just gonna assume he grows up to be this kinda teenager. He can't be OOC if we've never seen him at this age :D**_

_**Disclaimer: Tulio and Espie are mine. Everyone else belong to Rick. Except Rebecca. Whoever wants her can have her. She's just filler.**_

* * *

**Twenty-Two: Bedtime Hardships**

Harley had to hand it to Leo: that guy had skills and patience. _Lots_ of patience.

How he managed to settle Tulio and Espie down every night was beyond him. Espie was a walking furnace when she was mad (which was all the time now that Leo was gone) and Tulio liked to hide in spaces that were way too hot for comfort (aka: the fire pits or steaming cubby holes). Harley secretly prayed to his dad to gain Leo's fire powers just to handle the legacies.

No such luck.

_Yet._

Hey, he could dream.

For the past two hours the twins had been running around Cabin Nine and the forges below, flat-out refusing to come near Harley or any of the other Hephaestus Cabin campers. Harley had no idea why at first; they seemed perfectly okay earlier. But then he thought about the missing element again:

Leo.

The twins had never been more than a few minutes apart from Leo before. And now he was halfway around the world! That had to be hard for them…

"Espie, please," Harley begged. "Please calm down. You need to go to bed!"

Esperanza was now sitting in one of the forge's fire pits. One of the _lit_ fire pits, he might add. Even though she was only two, apparently she had already figured out other people couldn't 'do fire' like her father. She was a smart cookie, Harley had to admit.

_Though not nearly as smart as her brother_, Harley thought as he glanced around. His siblings were turning over all the tables, checking every nook and cranny, putting out all of the fireplaces, searching for young Tulio. _That little bugger is still in here, I know it! Espie wouldn't leave her brother (or vice versa) but he's still a great hider. How can that little boy hide so well so fast?_

Back to Espie; The little girl had a pouty face on, her cute nose scrunched up. "Want _Papi_!" she yelled, her voice high. "Want sleep with _Papi_!"

"Espie…" Harley sighed. "We've been over this. Your dad's just gonna be away a few days—a couple weeks tops. He'll be back before you know it!"

"NO!" Espie roared, making the fire engulfing her soar to tremendous heights. "WANT _PAPI_! NO WANT SLEEP WITH UNCLE! ONLY WANT _PAPI_!"

The Hephaestus siblings nearby took a few steps back. Harley sighed with exasperation.

Suddenly, someone else came down into the forge. Well, it was actually two people: The first was one of Harley's younger siblings, Rebecca. She was dragging the second—a slightly stunned Piper—by the wrist. Rebecca pointed to the flaming daughter of Leo Valdez and glared at Piper, obviously sending a 'get-her-calmed-down-with-charmspeak' message.

Piper understood immediately. She came as close as possible to Espie and crouched down. "Espie?" She cooed in her 'mother' voice. "I hear you're not being a cooperative little girl."

Espie shot a raspberry at her.

"Now, now," Piper said. Harley could hear the charmspeak. "You shouldn't do that. Why don't you be nice for your family?"

Espie didn't reply. She just turned around in the fire and pouted at the wall.

Piper turned to Harley. "Did Leo say anything about her middle name?"

"Grace, I think?"

Piper nodded. She turned back to Espie and hardened her voice. "Esperanza Grace Valdez, turn around now!"

Espie obeyed, looking slightly miffed that she had done what was asked of her afterwards. Harley snickered. Espie would be wondering why she had to obey Piper for years before she could figure out how to resist charmspeak!

"Good girl. Now please come out of that fire. It's time for bed and your Uncle Harley would love for you to cooperate. I'm sure your dad would like you to behave. What's he gonna say when he comes back and finds out you were _bad_?"

Espie looked absolutely horrified. She immediately hopped out of the fire, patting herself out. As soon as she stopped smoking, Espie walked over and smiled at Piper angelically.

"I good girl," she said. "No tell _Papi_?"

"We'll see," Harley answered. "How 'bout this; if you help us find your brother, we won't tell your dad?"

Espie brightened and looked around. She immediately yelled, "TUI! TUI, OUT!"

No reply. Piper stood up and asked Harley about Tulio's name. He told her.

"Tulio Charles Valdez!" Piper yelled with feeling. "Come out of hiding!"

They waited a few seconds. Nothing. Harley and his siblings got slightly nervous at this. Either young Tulio was immune to charmspeak…or he wasn't here anymore!

"Come out NOW, Tulio!" Piper exclaimed, laying on the charmspeak thick. "It's not funny anymore! Stop hiding!"

Suddenly, Happy (TF1) flew above her head and stopped in front of Harley, billowing steam. It sat down like a dog, wagging its tail. Harley picked it up. Happy snorted in his face.

"You know where Tulio is?" Harley asked. Happy roared and took off.

The entire cabin—plus Piper—ran after the small automaton. It suddenly flew straight up and disappeared into the rafters of the forge. Harley placed a chair onto one of the tables and lifted himself up. He instantly saw the small shadow in the corner of the room by the wall where the ceiling ended and the wall began.

"Found him," he called down.

"Why didn't he come out?" Piper asked. "Is he stuck? Afraid of heights?"

"No," Harley answered. He, on his hands and knees, worked his way over to the sleeping toddler that was gently smushed into the corner where a rafter, the wall, and the ceiling met. Happy curled around Tulio's tummy. Tulio was breathing steadily, slightly drooling. Soot bunnies were nestled deep into his hair and overalls.

Harley shook Tulio gently. Tulio groaned and rubbed his eyes. He looked up at his uncle sleepily. "Sleepy," was all he said before he went down for the count again.

Harley smiled and picked Tulio up. He—with great difficulty—made his way back down with the sleepy toddler still in his arms.

About half the cabin shared an 'aww' when they saw Tulio sleeping on Harley's shoulder, covered in dust and soot from the rafters. Harley smiled. "I think someone's had a pretty exciting day today…"

Espie came over and pulled on Harley's pants leg. She looked tired too, obviously taking the 'bedtime' cue from her brother. Piper came over and hefted Espie into her arms.

"Let's put these little demons to sleep, now."

* * *

_**A/N: Aww, twin fluff! You get a better look at the different personalities, too; lucky you.**_

_**So, my question to you all is this: How did Tulio get up into the rafters? :3 Go ahead, it's not as complicated as you may think! Trust me, I think you'll be able to figure it out in a snap!**_

_**Cookies to the correct guessers (there can be more than one), but ONLY if they are logged in (so I can PM them). Guests may still guess but will not receive cookies if they're right. First person to guess correctly gets an OC in the next one-shot involving the Valdez family! :D**_

_**That being said, you have all of today and tomorrow to guess. Chapter Twenty-Four shall be the reveal, so you may guess until then. When 24 arrives, no more cookies D:**_


	24. Demigod Flavors

_**Contest: Alrighty, no one has gotten the full answer as of yet, but SOMEONE got it half right. So, the chance to get an OC in my next Valdez one-shot is still available! I have yet to hand out full cookies :( Some of you are over-thinking the answer. To some, I commend you for thinking Tulio had used Happy/TF. Tulio did not use it, however. That would've been too obvious. And honestly, I thought the answer itself would have been easy to guess :P**_

_**Hint shall be at the next author's note.**_

_**Some cursing is prominent in this chapter. The kids are not present, so there is no need for the adults to censor. You have been warned.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Psych or these characters.**_

* * *

**Twenty-Three: Demigod Flavors**

Hazel woke up to Percy snorting with laughter. Her eyes fluttered open and she glanced around. Festus had landed on a deserted beach. A few fishing boats were scattered on the horizon. The sun was barely up, the sky still rosy-colored.

Percy was laughing again. Hazel lifted herself off of her pillow and looked below her. Percy was sitting against Festus, eating blue pancakes and drinking blue milk. _I cannot believe he still eats blue food._ She noticed he was looking at a small portable television. The TV show _**Psych**_ was playing on the screen. Hazel sighed, wishing for more sleep. She nestled back down into her pillow.

Her very lumpy pillow that breathed?

Hazel looked in front of her. Leo was passed out, half his torso ready to fall to the ground. His ass was facing up toward Hazel.

Hazel realized where her face had been moments before and screamed.

Leo jolted awake, yelping. In doing so, he lost his balance and fell, landing head first into the sand. Percy turned toward him and laughed. "Dude, you look like an ostrich."

Hazel slid down and watched as Leo tried to pull his head out of the sand, failing miserably. He started flailing, desperately trying to pry himself out. Hazel waited a few seconds before getting up the decency to help her friend out before he suffocated.

She pulled on his waist and Leo wiggled loose. He inhaled, then coughed as he inhaled sand with air.

"Geeze, Leo," Percy said with a mouthful of pancake. "We haven't even faced a monster yet and you've already had a life-threatening situation! What are we supposed to tell your twins: Sorry guys, your dad died with his head in the sand?"

Leo punched Percy after he got his second wind. "Fuck. Off."

He then turned to Hazel. "Hazel, why'd you scream!? You scared the ever-lovin' shit outta me!"

Once upon a time, maybe Hazel would've been a bit ashamed and flustered about admitting she'd had her head laying in Leo's ass. However, they were all adults—all parents—so she hardly had any cares about it now. "Maybe if your ass wasn't so fat I wouldn't have mistaken it as a pillow the last half of the flight and then get frightened by its awful appearance…"

Leo struggled in finding a retort to that. It sounded like a compliment at the beginning, but the sentence quickly turned to an insult. Leo had never come across something like that before—especially from Hazel. He looked like he was trying to decide between being embarrassed or flirty about Hazel sleeping on his ass. He stayed silent and turned away, unconsciously grabbing his butt before sitting down next to Percy.

"Percy, my ass isn't _that_ fat, is it?"

Percy, still facing the TV screen, replied, "You sound like a girl. I'm not looking at your butt, dude. Stop. Seriously? What the Hades! Stop, Leo!"

Leo had proceeded to wiggle his behind in Percy's face. Percy slapped it away as he tried to continue his marathon of _**Psych **_in peace. Eventually the two ended up play-fighting and rolling away. Hazel settled herself in the sand and took a bite out of Percy's blue pancakes. She was surprised to find that they were chocolate-chip flavor.

The guys returned just as the credits started rolling, covered in sand and shells. Percy gave one more swipe at Leo. "You made me miss the end of the episode."

"Spoiler alert," Leo said, grinning. "Shawn figures out the case and the bad guy gets arrested. The end."

It went on like that for a while. Hazel finally got the nerve to ask Percy, "Where are we?"

"Festus reported that we landed on some beach in Vigo, Spain. We didn't have any monster problems—"

"—You're welcome," Leo interrupted.

"—so I just let you guys get on with your dreams. Actually, I just woke up about an hour ago from my own nap."

"You got Festus to talk to you," Hazel said in more of a disbelieving statement, rather than a question.

"Our location flashed on the screen a few times," Percy said as if it was obvious.

Leo snickered. Hazel punched him.

Leo recovered instantly. "Anyway, we're making good time. After breakfast, we could totally get back on Festus and get to Madrid within an hour! Easy peasy rice and cheesy!"

* * *

When Leo said 'easy' he had actually meant 'Festus's anti-monster bubble will evaporate within ten minutes and the adult demigods will surely be attacked by a swarm of harpies'. Yeah. Easy peasy.

Of course, none of them were easy meals, either. Percy and Hazel did a good job of slicing the harpies mid-air while Leo barbequed them with well-aimed fireballs. Festus didn't even have to do anything, so he just kept flying forward. Eventually, the remaining harpies decided the adult demigods were too much to handle and flew off, clearly very pissed.

Then a couple gryphons attacked about ten minutes later. When they had been defeated, Leo whistled. "Damn…we're not even in the ancient lands and we're being attacked left and right!"

"Couldn't be that we're three extremely powerful demigods—two of which are children of the Big Three—that are way older than most usually are," Hazel muttered, not expecting either of the boys to hear her. "It's like we're a special kind of delicacy to monsters. The older the demigod, the better the taste."

"Mmm," Leo hummed, licking his lips. "What flavor would we be? I'd like to think I'd have a bit of chili pepper _zang_ to my taste! Percy'd totally taste like a codfish!"

"First off," Percy said from his position behind Hazel. "I feel like I'd taste like calamari. Secondly, you'd taste like a moldy taco." Hazel snickered at that. "And thirdly, why are you bringing up this subject at all? It's stupid."

Leo shrugged.

They trekked on in silence for a good ten minutes. A certain question was killing her, so Hazel decided to ask anyway, "What would I taste like?"

The boys stayed silent. Hazel could almost see the gears in Leo's head turning. Percy had chosen to look away, suppressing a smile. Finally, Leo snapped his fingers.

"I got it: Chinese takeout from New Orleans!"

Hazel slapped him upside the head. "I'm going to pretend that wasn't racist against Frank in the slightest, Leo."

"You asked," Leo said, rubbing his head, smiling like a madman. "And I _did_ say from New Orleans, not Canada!"

* * *

Another half hour of silence later, Leo announced that they were about to fly into Madrid.

"So, Leo," Hazel probed. "Why is Madrid so special anyway? I mean, I know it's where you said you woke up from what seemed like a dream, but…do you remember why Madrid is where you woke up? Or if there's something about it that could help?"

Leo didn't turn around. His shoulders stiffened slightly. Percy reached over Hazel and patted the son of Hephaestus on the back. Leo gave a weak thumbs-up and took a deep breath.

"From what I can recall," he began, "I spent a good portion of my time in Spain with…_her_. Yeah…I think it was maybe around a year? Maybe eight or nine months…I don't know. I just know it was the last place we were in when this all ended. And Madrid was where we spent our last night…"

He was hesitating. Hazel could tell. The heat that came off of him made her think he was…_embarrassed_? Why would he be embarrassed about this? She placed a hand on his back, rubbing it comfortingly. Leo turned his head and smiled weakly. His eyes were milky, but he seemed okay enough to nod.

"Anyway," he said, his eyes beginning to clear, "Once we land, I guess the only thing we can do is wander around. Unless either of you have any ideas?"

They both shook their heads. Soon Festus began to whirr and creak. Leo translated, "We have arrived!"

Hazel looked down on the nearing town of Madrid, Spain. It was enormous! She began to dread walking along the streets of Spain's capitol at random.

_Well…here we go!_

* * *

_**A/N: Ha, filler chapter! Take that, people that wanna know what happens!**_

_**Contest Question: How did Tulio Valdez get into the rafters in the last chapter?**_

_**Correct guesses: 1/2**_

_**Hint: Tulio used something that immortals can do, but do not give to their children as a gift (that we know of).**_


	25. Adventures in Babysitting

_**Hey, guys! I gots Good news, Bad news and Worse News. All of which shall be explained at the end of the chapter.**_

_**You all have been hilarious with your guesses. But now it's time to see how Tulio did it! :o**_

_**Disclaimer: The kids and the few obvious OC campers belong to me, though the campers are honestly filler...Rick owns all the canon characters :D**_

* * *

**Twenty-Four: Adventures in Babysitting**

Harley was now thoroughly convinced of Leo's honesty about raising the twins. They were a right _nightmare_ to take care of. They didn't like to be awakened, apparently, acting an awful lot like their father used to if Nyssa or Jake tried to get him up before nine in the morning—meaning, threatening to set fire to the cabin.

Morning bath time was an episode. Espie thrashed around when Piper—who was _bravely_ volunteering to help Harley out with the twins since Jason could handle Mark for a few days—tried to give her a scrub-down, not wanting the daughter of Aphrodite to even touch her with the nasty-smelling berry shampoo. She wanted the shampoo her father used (Harley figured he still used some variant of Old Spice, just like he did as a camper), but Leo had either forgotten it back in Houston or taken it with him. She did not approve of Piper's replacement V08 shampoo in the least! Harley saved the day on that one by getting his **Wolfthorn Old Spice** shampoo _**(A/N: I use this btw :D)**_ and that seemed to calm Espie down considerably. Harley laughed. That girl would be such a tomboy growing up!

Tulio was _way_ worse when it came to bath time. Harley couldn't even get _near_ the tub when Tulio was plopped into the water. He complained and whined for his _Papi_, kicking and splashing around in a tantrum. The water heated up to boiling temperatures, making the surface bubble. Eventually, Harley got Tulio bathed and presentable, but it took a heat-proof suit (like one of those suits you see on Doctor Who or ET) just to get close. Tulio's internal heat was probably the source of the problem, and Harley was constantly on edge for an explosion. He had been informed that Espie could explode when angry (and he had the unfortunate luck to experience that this morning-don't ask) but Tulio had yet to get angry enough for the first 'big bang', as Leo had called it. So far, the toddler's internal temperatures had merely skyrocketed, but Harley guessed it would only be a matter of time before little Tulio became a walking bonfire like his sister…

Breakfast had been okay, but the twins were bombarded by all the campers and New Athenians wanting to cuddle and pinch their chubby cheeks, trying to make up for the two years of not knowing them like they knew Sammy, Mark and Lacy. Said toddlers were quite happy with the Valdez twins distracting the adults. They got to enjoy alone-time with their respective parents for once.

The moment they left the dining pavilion became the moment Harley decided he never wanted to babysit Leo's kids again.

The Stolls kidnapped little Espie almost immediately, heading off to the Hermes cabin to brainstorm ideas with their younger siblings about using the girl in a prank. They had yelled back at him that they needed her opinion on some sort of My Little Pony/Jason prank. Harley cursed the Hermes twins for being so much faster than he. He picked up Tulio, meaning to run after them, but Tulio immediately struggled out of his grip.

"No!" Tulio pouted. "No hold! No Uppies! Only _Papi_ do Uppies!"

Harley sighed. "I'm not…" he began. "Tulio, we need to go rescue your sister. Let's—" He had motioned to pick up the boy again. Mistake.

Tulio shot off. For a two-year-old, he was _fast_! Harley trailed after him. Tulio ran into one of the bushes. Two seconds later, Harley pushed aside the leaves and gasped.

The boy had vanished!

Harley cursed. "No, no! How do you do that!?" He began to suspect that Tulio had a hidden power his sister and father didn't possess. Suddenly, Tulio getting into the rafters became prominent in his mind. He originally thought that maybe Happy had flown him up there, but now he wasn't so sure...

Harley struggled with himself. Should he go try and find Tulio or rescue Esperanza from the Stolls? He finally settled on Tulio. At least he knew where Espie was…not that it was a good place for her to be, but still…

"Tulio!" He yelled across camp. "Tulio Valdez, where are you?"

The more he yelled, the more attention he grabbed. Campers began giving him strange looks as he ran full-speed around the camp, yelling for Tulio to come out. He was getting frantic. What kind of babysitter was he? He couldn't even make it through ONE DAY without losing the twins!

"Harley?"

The son of Hephaestus turned around. His older sister, Nyssa, was standing behind him. She had a concerned look on her face. "Everything okay?"

"No!" he blurted out without thinking. "I've lost Tulio and the Stolls took Espie and Leo's gonna be so pissed when he finds out I can't even take care of his kids for one single day and I'm such a bad uncle and a bad brother and…" He hyperventilated. Panic settled within his stomach.

Nyssa grabbed his shoulders. "Harley, first of all: BREATHE!"

Harley took deep, slow breaths.

"Secondly, please repeat what's wrong. Slowly this time."

Harley repeated what had happened with the twins. Nyssa sighed at the Stolls' twin-napping and cocked an eyebrow at Tulio's sudden disappearance. She gently rubbed her brother's shoulders, which he appreciated.

"Alright," she settled. "Even though it's against my better judgment, I agree that you did the right thing choosing to leave Espie in the hands of the Stolls while tracking down Tulio. But you should've grabbed someone to help you. I'll help get Espie away from the Stolls. You keep looking for Tulio. Check inside the cabins. I doubt that he could've gone outside the borders."

Nyssa ran off. Harley was about to follow her to check and see if Tulio had ended up with his sister when someone else approached him. It was a girl about Harley's age with straight brown hair and striking green eyes. She was new to camp, so Harley hadn't had the time to really get to know her. He thought her name was Annie. The only thing he knew for sure was that she was a daughter of Aphrodite.

"You're Harley, right?" she asked. "The head counselor for Cabin Nine?"

"Yes, but I can't be bothered right now. I'm looking for someone—"

"Come with me, please," she said with just a hint of forcefulness. "Tulio's with us."

Harley tensed and relaxed at the same time. He raced after Annie, heading straight for the Aphrodite Cabin. Annie burst through the doors yelling, "I got Harley!"

The children of Aphrodite all looked up from where they were. Harley noticed an odd pattern. All of the boys were doing whatever around the cabin, mostly relaxing on their beds reading magazines. All of the girls were clustered in a tight circle around one of the beds. One of the girls shushed Annie.

Annie took the hint and motioned for Harley to follow her quietly. The son of Hephaestus did as he was signaled to do and moved closer to the tight circle of girls. Most of these girls were mumbling and giggling, some even sighing an 'aww' or two. Harley pushed past a couple girls and sighed in relief.

Tulio was curled up in the bed, wrapped up in a baby blue blanket. He sucked his thumb as he slept, humming peacefully. Harley suppressed the urge to 'aww' himself. He turned to the head counselor of Cabin 10, Dani, and asked, "How'd you find him?"

Dani blinked at him, looking slightly miffed that she had to look away from the cuteness that was little Tulio. "He just appeared out of nowhere. One second we were enjoying our nice-earned break from training in here, the next Tulio suddenly skidded to a halt in the middle of the Cabin! He hadn't burst through the door or climbed through the windows; he just appeared! Then he looked around, yawned, and crawled into Beth's bed. The little guy is so cute we couldn't bear to wake him, so we gave him a blanket. That's when we heard you screaming for him."

Harley stared hard at the little Latino. He couldn't ignore what he had just learned.

Teleportation.

The little bastard had the power of teleportation!

Harley wanted to know where _that_ had come from…his father and grandfather obviously couldn't have given it to him. Maybe the mother's side of the family had god blood too? Harley desperately wanted Leo to return so he could figure out who this girl was.

"Thanks for getting me," he whispered. He bent down and picked up Tulio gently. The boy groaned but didn't wake up. Harley figured teleportation was still a hard power for him and exhausted the boy like shadow travelling had done to Nico the first few years. He also realized that the power explained how Tulio had gotten into the rafters last night!

_Gods, a Leo 2.0 with teleportation powers…_he thought with a shudder. _This little guy's gonna be a right demon when he grows up!_

As he left the cabin, still cradling Tulio gently, a small blue blur ran up to him. "Tui ok! Tui here!"

Harley looked up at Nyssa casually strolling up to him. She looked pleased, like she had won a huge game of poker. Harley shivered at the thought of what she might have done to the Stolls.

"I see you found him," Nyssa remarked. "How'd he get in there?"

"Can our dad pass on teleportation?" Harley asked. When she gave him a weird look he added, "This little devil can teleport! Can you believe that?"

Nyssa's eyes widened. "How?" was all she managed.

Harley shrugged. "Dunno. Obviously it's not something you get from Leo's side—unless one of our siblings or the Vulcan cousins can do it (which I doubt). Do you think Leo fell for a…" he trailed off.

Nyssa caught the hint. "If he did…which goddess would it have been, do you think?"

"Wouldn't have been Aphrodite," Harley ruled. "I feel like she would pay way more attention to the twins. That, and I don't think Leo would be her type…"

"Demeter?" Nyssa pondered. "Definitely not. Leo can burn down fields of _anything_, so that's a no."

"Though Leo likes architecture," Harley continued, "I think he's just a little too dumb for Athena."

They snickered.

"Hera and Artemis are out for obvious reasons," Nyssa said. "And I highly doubt Leo would be into Nemesis after what happened with the war."

"Which leaves…" Harley's voice trailed off.

Nyssa picked it up. "Hecate. Considering Tulio's power…it makes sense. But, even so…it doesn't explain the disappearing for five years."

"But it does explain the memory problem," Harley added. "Maybe Hecate didn't want Leo to remember her or maybe they fought and it's a punishment?"

Before Nyssa could respond, Wendy Black—head of the Hecate Cabin—passed Harley's vision. He called her over.

When Wendy came over, she swept her punk-styled blonde hair out of her eyes. "What's up, guys?"

"We got a couple questions," Harley said. "Do you mind?"

Wendy shrugged. "Shoot."

"Can Hecate kids teleport?"

"Sure, but only short distances. We can't, like, hop continents or teleport into underground safes or stuff like that. Little hops, y'know? Across camp, in and out of the cabins. We can't go as far as Nico's shadow travelling can, but it works like that."

Tulio shifted in Harley's arms. Harley continued. "Can Hecate manipulate memories? Like, say, blocking them out?"

Wendy seemed to catch on. "You're talking about Leo Valdez, aren't you? You think Leo's disappearance had something to do with Mom?" She grimaced. "EW! I can't even _begin_ to imagine Mom going for Leo! Judging from the other night, he does _not_ seem like her kind of guy!"

"Tulio can teleport, though," Nyssa chimed in.

_That_ got Wendy's attention. She stared at the sleeping toddler in Harley's arms with wide, examining eyes. After a couple seconds, she shook her head.

"There's just no way he could be my brother. I think I'd sense it. Maybe the teleportation is a once-in-a-thousand-years power that Hephaestus gives—like the fire?"

Both the Hephaestus children gave her a withered look. Wendy looked at the ground. "Just a thought. But I _highly_ doubt Hecate was the one to capture _Leo's_ heart. Or vice versa..." She faked a barf at the end of the sentence. "Just ick!"

She left the Hephaestus family on that note. Harley turned back to Nyssa. "Well…maybe it _wasn't_ Hecate. But where would Tulio get that power?"

Nyssa shook her head. "Only time will tell, I guess. We'll just have to wait 'til Leo returns. He said he'd tell the twins who the mother was as soon as he returned. We'll have our answer then."

"But I'm impatient," Harley whined.

Nyssa ruffled his short, choppy blonde hair. "You can stop trying to be Leo now that we know he's okay," she teased.

Harley made a face and stuck his tongue out as she walked away. He thought about that comment, memories flooding back to him.

Right after Leo's honorary funeral, the Hephaestus Cabin had gone into a slow depression, obviously missing Leo's stupid antics. It had gotten so bad that the cabin had begun to think their curse had returned. Harley, being the funny kid that he was, decided he wasn't going to believe in the curse like last time. He made up his mind to remind everyone to keep smiling. Harley began to tell corny jokes, build funny machines that were _supposed_ to mess up and generally make everyone's day just a little brighter. Jake Mason, one of his older brothers, called him Harleo sometimes, which made the rest of the cabin feel better. Soon, it was like old times again, but with one slight difference: Instead of Leo being known as the funny Hephaestus kid, Harley had filled in the position.

Harley, still carrying Tulio, held Espie's hand and walked towards the lake. It was a nice day out, and he figured the twins would like the nice scenery.

As they came near the shoreline, Tulio grumbled, "…no Uppies…"

Harley smiled down at the little Leo. "Hey, big guy."

Tulio gazed up at him with big almond eyes. "Where _Papi_?"

"He'll be back soon. Look," he said as he set the boy down. He gestured to the lake. "This is our lake. Wanna say hi to the water nymphs?"

Tulio appreciated the distraction and nodded. A couple of water nymphs popped out of the water and waved to the twins.

Espie was ecstatic and started splashing around in the shallows, randomly picking up shells and rocks and showing them to the nymphs.

Tulio wandered on the shore nearby with a pouty face, apparently not wanting to play.

Harley scratched his head. _Geeze, what polar opposites. One minute they're like the Stolls—so close in personality you can't tell which one is which—and then suddenly Tulio becomes Mr. Grumplepuss and Espie is Miss Bouncyhouse…_

"What that?"

Harley blinked. Tulio was in the shallows now, pointing to something out in the lake. The water nymphs glanced in the direction Tulio had pointed towards and disappeared back into the water. Harley squinted.

A raft was floating in the soft current, slowly drifting their way. There wasn't anything on it. It was just a makeshift wooden raft with a small, sail-less mast.

Espie waded further to get a better look. Harley immediately called her back. "Espie, don't go near it! It could be dangerous!"

Tulio's eyes were still locked onto the raft. They were wide with curiosity. "No bad," he mumbled.

The raft drifted ashore next to Harley. Harley didn't sense any invisible dangers. It didn't _seem_ like a dangerous monster about to eat him…but something didn't sit right with him about it. Where did it come from? Why was it here?

Tulio immediately hopped onto the raft and hugged the mast. "We go! Go now!"

Espie climbed aboard as well, bouncing up and down excitedly. "Go see _Papi_ with boat! Yay!"

Harley scratched his head. "Guys, it might not be safe. Besides, it probably won't take you to your dad. The lake doesn't go anywhere—especially not to Spain!" He hated to discourage them like this, but there wasn't much of a choice.

Tulio shook his head furiously. "Boat go! Boat go far!"

Suddenly, the raft jerked backwards. The waves started pulling it back into the lake. Harley flinched and jumped into the water after it. He climbed onto the raft before the water got up to his stomach. The twins looked a little bothered now.

Well, Espie did.

Tulio was staring straight ahead, eyes wide and mouth formed into a grin.

Harley followed his gaze and gasped.

A thick, dense fog had come out of nowhere and blanketed the opposite shore! Before he could even turn his head to shout to someone—anyone who could have been nearby—to come rescue him and the twins, the fog had completely enveloped the raft. Harley could barely see his nose, let alone the twins. Thankfully, he could still hear them and feel their weight by the mast.

"Kids," he shouted. "You alright?"

The twins each said, "Yes!"

He exhaled in relief. "Don't move around. Keep to the mast."

The fog began to clear, for which Harley was grateful. Then, his gratefulness turned to surprise and dread.

They were no longer in the lake. There were no familiar trees or ports lining a nearby shore—actually, there was _no_ shore anywhere.

Somehow, the raft had ended up in the ocean!

Harley glanced around. "Shi—Styx," he saved. "How in Hades did we get here?"

"Uncle, look!" Tulio was pointing again, this time behind them.

Harley turned and furrowed his brows. _Where did that come from? That wasn't there a second ago…then again; we were on a lake a few minutes ago…_

He shuffled around, hoping he wouldn't have to get wet again, but sighed. There weren't any oars on the raft. _Of course…_

So, he jumped off the raft, instructed the twins to sit still, and pushed the raft in the direction of the small island that had magically appeared.

* * *

_**A/N: Oooh! Dun dun duuuunnnnn!**_

_**Alright, time for the news!**_

_**The Good news: The moment I said the hint, almost all of you got it! Wasn't that hard, now, was it?**_

_**The Bad news: I couldn't give everyone's OC an appearance in the one-shot, so I could only choose two-Chris, who had the first half-guess with 'power from his mother' and PercyJacksonOracle for the real winning guess 'he teleported'! You both will be getting your OCs put into the next Valdez family one-shot!**_

_**Congrats and cookies to all who got the answer!**_

_**To CC: I would like to tell you something regarding your answer, but you aren't logged in, so I can't say it :( Bummer...**_

_**Aaaand now...**_

_**The Worse news: This is my final pre-written chapter. What the Hades does that mean? It means that I will be slower in updating now that I am writing and updating at the same time. Does that mean I'm discontinuing? Oh HELL NO. The chapter updates will just not be daily anymore. :( Soo, I'm sorry.**_

_**The silver lining to that is that I have a whole story-board written out so I won't forget what I had planned for the rest of the chapters :D**_

_**'Til next time, guys!**_


	26. Expensive Dinner is Expensive

_**Alright, I lied.**_** THIS_ is the last of the pre-written chapters. It was half done when my updates caught up to me :P_**

**_I hope you enjoy the ending of this chapter. I didn't plan that, it kinda just happened :D_**

**_Disclaimer: Rick owns the canon characters, I kinda-sorta own Diego, but really; there might actually be a waiter named Diego working at that restaurant, who knows?_**

* * *

**Twenty-Five: Expensive Dinner is Expensive**

Old memories and nostalgia were giving Leo a headache. He, Percy and Hazel had been wandering around Madrid, Spain for about two hours now. Whenever they passed a famous landmark, his friends would look at him expectantly, but the fog would still be there.

Leo could tell he'd been to every one of the special places. It was a strong sense of nostalgia that led him around. But, sadly, every time he tried to remember, the fog would cover his senses and he'd have to take a breather. However, near the middle of the city, the fog in his mind seemed to get thinner.

"Why don't we get something to eat," Percy suggested, clearly tired of running around.

"Good," Hazel sighed. "I'm starving, and my feet hurt!"

They both turned to Leo, who was currently sitting on a random bench, resting from his recent fog-attack.

"What?" he asked.

Hazel smiled. "Well, Mr. I-stayed-in-Madrid-for-a-year, we figured you'd know the best places to eat in town! Surely you and your special lady didn't survive on TV Dinners and trash that whole time?"

Leo smirked. "Let me see…" He concentrated, letting his mind wander. There was a nice, semi-foggy memory of an expensive restaurant a couple blocks away. From what he could recall, he'd eaten there with his girl a lot. How he afforded that was beyond him…

"Um…There's a high-class joint a few blocks over," he put out. "Called…ugh… Restaurante La Barraca, I think?"

"Can we afford 'high-class joint' right now?" Hazel asked. "'Cause I don't think they'd take denarii or drachmas…"

Leo circled back to his original thought. _How did I afford stuff in Europe? I wasn't exactly rolling in the mortal money as a teenager…Then how…?_

He subconsciously let his hand dangle over one of his tool belt pockets. He reached in and somehow the belt knew what he wanted. Out came a slightly worn, golden credit card!

"Huh," he huffed. "I think this'll cover the costs…"

Percy snatched it out of his hands and inspected it. The son of Poseidon read the card aloud, "'_VISA Olympus_'. Where the Hades did you get this?"

Leo shrugged. "Dunno. No wait." He had a vague memory of someone handing him the card saying '_Have fun on your vacation. This'll cover all the costs. Don't worry about debt.'_

"I think…" he mulled over the memory. "I think Lord Hermes gave it to me?"

"Hermes?" Hazel asked incredulously. "Why would he give you a credit card?"

Leo shrugged again. "Maybe he figured I'd be travelling around? I mean, I kinda did, seeing as how I remember being in almost every European country…He _is_ the god of travelers, so maybe if the traveler is a hero demigod he gives you a special card?"

Percy snorted. "Maybe it's a frequent fliers reward? Y'know: 'The more you fly the more you buy' type of thing?" He laughed. "Maybe Hermes was giving you a free travel card since you were the provider of our flight to Greece?"

Leo laughed with him. "Whatever. At least we got money!"

"Then let's go eat, guys!" Hazel stamped her foot impatiently. "I'm starving!"

The trio walked a few more blocks before coming across the **_Restaurante La Barraca_** sign. The outside didn't look very impressive. In fact, it looked almost like an apartment complex. Absolutely nothing about it stood out in the least.

Leo led the group inside anyway. It was definitely nicer inside, that was for sure. It was dimly lit, with an all-around Captain's Quarter's feel. It looked like a place the officers of a ship would dine, with its slanted ceilings and various sea-themed pictures. Leo figured Percy might be in love with this place instantly.

The trio walked up to a podium where a hoity-toity old waiter was standing, scribbling something in his log book.

"_Do you have a reservation?_" he asked without looking.

Leo recognized the Spanish and answered back, "_No, but I recall not really needing one the last time I was here._"

The waiter sighed in exasperation and looked up. "_Look, sir. We only give walk-ins to—_"

He paused and brightened suddenly. The waiter exclaimed in English, "Oh! _Señior _Valdez! It's been too long!"

Leo paused. He didn't recall meeting this guy before. "Uh," he said brilliantly.

"Please, this way, sir!" The waiter ushered them inside.

He sat the trio down at a small table and handed them menus. "Shall the lady be joining you as well, _señior_?" he asked, holding up a fourth menu.

Leo's heart thumped sadly in his chest. "Um, no. Not today…" He tried not to sound as lost or depressed as he felt.

The waiter didn't catch the undertone and nodded, smiling. "Of course. And I assume you'd like your usual?"

"Sorry," Leo interrupted. "I'm having a total brain fart…How do you know me?"

"Why, you were a valued customer!" the waiter replied without hesitation. "You and the lady were always welcome here, with your large appetites and generous tips! We are so happy to see you back after such a long absence, _señior_!"

Leo felt his face heat up. _Wow, this card must've done wonders!_ "Uh, okay. I guess I will take my usual…but can you give us a few minutes to let my friends decide what they want?"

The waiter bowed his head. "Of course, _señior_. And, since you've forgotten, my name is Diego." He smiled sweetly and walked away.

Percy and Hazel looked at their menus. Leo watched in amusement as they tried to figure out what the menus said. Percy's eyes crossed. Hazel just plain gave up and looked at Leo.

"Please translate, Leo," she begged. "Spanish gives me a headache."

Percy sighed in agreement.

Leo looked at the menu and made a few suggestions for them, flagging Diego back over and ordering a couple dishes as the waiter served them a few glasses of water.

"Excellent choices," Diego said. "Would you like any wine to go with your orders?"

"_No_," they all said with a little venom, each shuddering at the thought of the party the day before.

* * *

About an hour later, after draining their water cups twice, the meals came out.

Percy's dish was Beef Tenderloin with Port Sauce. Leo had recommended that since the son of Poseidon was more inclined to turn away seafood. Percy took one bite and looked as if he would melt. He said with joy, "I'm so gonna get Annabeth to try some when we get home—y'know, with the magic plates."

Hazel got Grilled Squid with Seasonal Vegetables. She commented that she expected it to taste like calamari, but it had more of a defining flavor than that. She said she couldn't explain it, but it was _delicious_! She would recommend it to the cooks in New Rome next time she had the chance.

Finally, Leo discovered that his 'usual' was a Salsa Cod Confit in Biscayne. It smelled fantastic, that was for sure, and it looked amazing. He was super excited to taste it.

The moment it hit his tongue, he was bombarded by a memory.

* * *

"_Welcome back, _Señior _Valdez!" Diego the waiter said with glee. "And _Señora_ Valdez, always a pleasure to see you!"_

_Leo turned and kissed his companion passionately. As usual, he detected the faint smell of cinnamon when their lips met._

_They were both led inside to their usual table, the one next to the window overlooking the street. It wasn't much of a sight to behold, but Leo's companion had said she enjoyed the people-watching spot. It was much better than a view of the beach!_

"_Your usual, sir?" Diego asked, pouring water into the cups. He hadn't even bothered handing them a menu._

"_Of course," Leo answered. He turned to his companion and asked. "What kind of wine do you want today, _mi sol_?"_

_She pondered for a moment. "How about some Cabaret? Any year, if you please."_

_Diego nodded and left._

_Leo kissed his companion over the table. Another waiter, this one much younger, came up a few minutes later holding the requested wine bottle._

"_Y-Your drink, _señior_," the young waiter stammered._

_Leo smiled. "_Gracias_. Are you new?"_

"Si, señior_," he said nervously._

"_You'll do fine." Leo grinned. "I'll tell the manager you were excellent in serving us, dude. What's your name?"_

_The waiter hesitated. "T-Tulio." He cleared his throat. "My name is Tulio, _señior_."_

_Leo's companion smiled. "That's such a handsome name! Y'know, if I ever have a son, I think I shall name him Tulio."_

_Tulio the waiter stood there, shocked. "R-Really? Not after me, surely! We've only just met, and I believe I've made a terrible first impression…"_

"_Nonsense," she interrupted. "You are a very polite young man. It's decided: my first-born son shall be named Tulio!"_

_Leo grumbled. "I thought we agreed on Leo Jr."_

_His companion slapped him on the shoulder. "You were clearly drunk as Hades that night and I was being nice. Tulio is a much better name, anyway!"_

_She closed her eyes and sighed, a look of pure happiness overtaking her features. "I can just hear it now…Tulio Valdez…"_

* * *

Leo jerked his head back, gasping. Hazel and Percy stared at him. Diego the waiter had returned. He looked very worried, his wide eyes showing fear.

"You alright, man?" Percy asked. "You were shaking pretty violently."

"Smoke was coming out of your mouth," Hazel put in. "It kind of looked like Rachel when she recited the prophecy, but this smoke was white, not green. It was really creepy."

"I…" Leo hesitated. "I think I just remembered something! It was way clearer than when we were wandering around…"

"What did you remember?" Percy asked, wide-eyed.

Leo looked up and smiled.

"How my son got his name…"

* * *

_**A/N: If you want to know about the dishes, Google them. By the way, real restaurant with real dishes! I totally did a bit of research on that :D**_

_**Yay, Leo remembered something! The trio's on the right track, then!**_

_**And lastly, obvious Spanish words are obvious. If you really don't know those words, just use Google Translate.**_

_**It's funny how my Word will recognize Greek names and words, yet says all the Spanish words don't exist. :P I think my computer is a demigod in disguise. D:**_


	27. Are You My Mummy?

_**Oh, gods! It's time, guys! It's really time! You all have been waiting, asking and begging to know if the mother is a certain someone! Now it's time for the big reveal!**_

_**Here's the irony: The twins find out before Leo, who is still in the middle of the memory quest in the first place :D**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the twins.**_

* * *

_**Twenty-Six: Are You My Mummy?**_

Harley collapsed onto the sand as soon as he knew the twins were safely off the raft. The twins looked down at him curiously, their brown and almond eyes wide with curiosity.

"Uncle take nap?" Tulio asked.

Harley groaned and sat up, ignoring his nephew's question.

The island was small, that much he could tell. Beach took up most of it, and deeper in he could see the beginnings of a small wooded area and garden.

And out on the ocean? Absolutely nothing. No other land masses or ships to suggest they were anywhere near civilization.

"Perfect," Harley mumbled. "I'm stuck on a deserted island with two fire-using two-year-olds…At least we have the raft—"

But the raft was half way out to sea again. Way too far for him to start swimming to catch it. Harley sighed in exasperation and flopped back onto the sand. "Why me?" he groaned.

Espie climbed onto Harley's stomach. It kind of tickled, especially since she didn't weigh very much. She scooted forward onto his chest and lowered herself down, propping herself up with her elbows, which poked Harley a bit. She looked him right in the eye. "See _Papi_ now? This Spay?"

Harley almost laughed at her innocence. "No, Espie. I don't think your _Papi_ is here. This isn't Spain…"

"Then," she drawled. "Where this?"

_Good question_, Harley thought. "I don't know."

"How know it not Spay?"

_Huh…she's really smart for her age! Speaking of smart…_

Harley moved his head, searching for Tulio. The little Latino was on the move, heading down the beach like he was on a mission. Harley immediately shot up, grabbing Espie and carrying her as he ran to catch up to the boy.

_I can't let that boy out of my sight for an instant_, he thought despairingly. _If he teleports, I won't know where to look! And he seems to know more about what's happening than I do…_

Harley gazed past Tulio to see where the boy was headed. There were a few old craters in the beach. One was about the size of a bath tub, the other was even bigger. He wondered what could have made such a huge dent in the otherwise pristine beach.

_Must've been something huge…_

Beyond the craters was a makeshift lean-to. Underneath the canvas of the lean-to was a dip in the ground, with what looked like man-made bricks surrounding it. Littered all over the floor under the lean-to were various shiny objects.

"Is that a forge?" Harley asked aloud.

As he drew closer, he realized it _was_ a forge! His inner Hephaestus was having a tap dance party at the thought of being able to build on this gods forsaken island. Then, another thought occurred to him:

Where there was a forge, there had to be people! Maybe they'd be able to help!

The forge was small, to say the least. Harley had to squat when he was under the canvas. All the tools were makeshift and dusty. There were a few old Celestial Bronze scraps lying in the corner, too small to be used for anything useful. All the shiny objects, he realized, were bigger pieces of scrap that could still be useful for random fixes. Still, there was nothing Harley could use for a weapon.

But there _was_ a bronze mirror lying around. Harley picked it up and examined it. It wasn't that special, just a random mirror. Unlike the rest of the forge, it seemed this thing was clean and polished. It was like it had been made or used recently. Though it seemed very amateur-ish, Harley could tell it had been made by a professional.

_Who gets stranded on an island and makes a mirror?_ Harley set the mirror down and looked around for any other useful thing. Nothing else was in the makeshift forge. He sighed and looked the twins.

Espie was interested in the mirror, smoothing her dress and making sure she looked pretty. Tulio was picking up the random tools and throwing them into the handmade fire pit.

"What are you doing, Tulio?" Harley asked.

"No safe," the boy said. "Keep toys neat in box. Tools go in box, too."

Harley chuckled at that. _Well, at least Leo taught him to have a clean workstation…Why not? That pit hasn't been used in years. Might as well put the tools somewhere safe._

He gathered up the bronze scraps and put them in the pit on top of Tulio's tools. Tulio beamed up at him. "Safe now!" he exclaimed.

Harley smiled. "Yup. It's safe." He glanced around. "How about we explore the island? Let's go see what's over there." He pointed towards the sloping hills that held the garden.

Tulio bounced up and down. Espie abandoned the mirror and toddled over. Harley grabbed both of their hands and started walking out of the forge.

The twins' heads were whipping around at every little thing. Wind ruffled the tree leaves. Birds chirped as they flew over-head. Humming could be heard on the breeze.

What?

"Humming?" Harley asked aloud.

They made it over the small hill. Harley had to pause to take in the scenery. He never was one for gardens but…Holy Hephaestus, what a garden! To put it simply, Lady Demeter would have been put to shame with this garden.

Then he noticed the woman.

She was facing the trio, but her head was bowed as she knelt in the dirt. She was stabbing at the ground with a trowel, completely unaware of Harley's presence. She was humming some sort of sad tune. It sounded like a Greek lullaby, but Harley couldn't be sure. Hey, he'd never really heard many of those.

From what he could tell, it was a woman in her early twenties. Her long, cinnamon-colored hair was loosely braided and flowed against her back. She wore a simple white t-shirt with semi-dirty jeans. Her face was very pretty, perfectly shaped with delicate features. Her eyes (from what Harley could tell) were a light brown color, almost like they were the color of…

"Almonds," Harley said out loud, looking down at Tulio.

The woman's head snapped up at the noise. Surprise and confusion were very present on her face. Her mouth hung open in utter shock.

"No," she whispered. Her face reddened and contorted in anger. Before Harley could say anything, the woman stood up and looked up at the sky.

"You promised!" she yelled. "You said that part of my curse has been broken! You said I wouldn't have to deal with ridiculous flings anymore!"

"Excuse me?" Harley asked, shielding the twins by hiding them behind his legs. This woman was clearly crazy.

The woman turned and glared at the son of Hephaestus. "How did you get here? No one is supposed to come here! Not unless they are in pain! You being here unhurt is highly suspicious! WHO ARE YOU?"

Harley nearly tripped over the twins trying to back away. "I-I…uh…my name is Harley…" he managed. He cleared his throat. "We were just minding our own business on the shores of our camp's lake when this raft appeared. We got on and it led us here."

"We?" the woman asked incredulously. "You mean there's _more_ of you?"

Harley motioned to the twins behind him. The second the woman locked her eyes onto them her features immediately softened. Her eyes were suddenly shining, as if she were holding back tears.

"Oh my gods," she said, her voice barely a whisper. "That can't be them…"

Tulio came out from behind Harley's legs. Almond eyes met almond eyes. Tulio's eyes lit up in some sort of recognition. He looked at Espie. "'Member _Papi_ say he go find Mommy?"

Espie brightened. "We find Mommy?"

The twins both looked at the woman with bright eyes. They asked in unison, "You our Mommy?"

Only a second passed before crying ensued. The woman was now crouching on the ground, clutching both the twins in a huge hug.

"Oh my gods," she repeated. She was crying now, her tears streaming down her cheeks at lightning speed. "Look at you! You've both grown so much!"

She held Tulio at arm's length away from her. "Tulio…you look just like your father! I knew you would! Oh, my Tulio!"

Then the woman held out Espie. "And you! Oh, you're so beautiful! I can't stand how beautiful you're getting!"

She hugged them again. The twins were silent, smiling.

Harley cleared his throat. "Pardon me, but…are you the twins' mother?" It seemed rather silly to ask, but Harley couldn't be too sure.

The woman looked up at him, her eyes red and puffy. A huge smile broke her earlier rage-like demeanor. "Yes! Yes, I am their mother."

Harley wanted to scream and shout. He had found the mother! Leo would be so happy! "May I ask your name, miss?"

"My name is Calypso."

Everything came to a screeching halt. Harley remembered Percy's story of him ending up on an island where an immortal girl fell in love with him. Where said immortal fell in love with _every_ man she met. Where a man couldn't leave until both were in love with each other, even just a little.

Tulio's power made more sense now. Normal gods, besides Hecate, couldn't pass on teleportation all willy-nilly.

Leo hadn't fallen for a goddess…Oh no…

That would have been too mainstream for him…

Leo Valdez had fallen for a titan!

Harley just stood there, looking like a total idiot with his mouth hanging open. Calypso stood again and closed it.

"You say a raft brought you here," she said, her voice suddenly calm.

"It's gone now," he informed her. "It drifted away."

Calypso looked crestfallen. "Just as well…I suppose if the raft brought you here, there must be a reason. I mean, you brought me my babies! I never expected to meet them!"

"Why is that?" Harley inquired. "Actually, better question: Why doesn't Leo remember you? He's out in Spain looking for a way to remember! You've got to go to him!"

Calypso shook her head. "No, I can't. I cannot leave this island. I am cursed to stay here for all eternity."

"Then…how did you and Leo…?" Harley couldn't connect the dots. "When did…"

"We met during the Second Giant War," she explained. The twins started sitting and playing in the grass, excited for a story. Harley motioned to them and Calypso smiled. The adults sat down, each letting a twin sit in their lap.

Calypso went on to tell Harley and the twins about how she and Leo first met. Harley had assumed, through Percy's own recollection of the titan, that Calypso was a sweet girl. The way she described her few weeks with Leo…well, _sweet_ wouldn't have been the word Harley would use to describe her. She told him that Leo had slowly grown on her in his own way; not actually treating her like a princess but as a regular person, which was something the other heroes hadn't done during their respective stays.

When she told Harley about Leo leaving to save the world, she paused to wipe a tear.

"Percy said something about no man finding this place twice," Harley drawled. "If that's true and you're still here…did Leo…?"

Calypso snorted. "Check your math, demigod," she scoffed, pointing at the two-year-old Tulio in her lap. "Though time is different here, it's not _that_ distorted! Plus, I had only _just_ fallen for him for real that night, and there was zero time for me to even _think_ about doing anything like that with a fifteen-year-old! That's just disgusting!"

Harley blushed. "Sorry, teenage mind with ADHD…So that means Leo—" _Oh! That explains why Leo left in the first place!_

Calypso tilted her head. "Are you alright?" Harley had forgotten he hadn't finished his sentence.

He grinned. "Peachy. It's just that Leo left eight years ago out of the blue and didn't contact 'til about three days ago. Now, at least, I know why."

She smiled. "Yes," she said happily. "Leo came back. It was a very emotional time…but there weren't just good emotions…"

Harley tilted his head this time. "What do you mean?"

"There's a reason I'm still here, Harley." She trembled slightly.

"What is it?" Harley asked. "What happened?"

She looked him in the eye for a good minute. In her almond-colored orbs, he could see himself; a dirty, kinda-buff teen with scruffy blond hair. She finally directed her gaze downward at her son. Tulio was smiling, playing with a bit of string that had come loose from his little camp tee. Calypso picked him up and set him down onto the grass beside her.

"Why don't you go and play over there—" she pointed to a spot not too far away that was sheltered by the shade of a willow tree. "—with your dear sister?"

Tulio smiled and said, "'Kay!"

He bounded off without even glancing at Espie. Said little girl squirmed out of Harley's lap and shouted after her brother, "Wait for me, Tui!"

Harley held back a snort when he heard Tulio's answer: "NO CALL ME TUI!"

Calypso smiled at her children. Then, her expression turned serious as she turned back to Harley and held out her hands.

"Take my hands," she ordered.

"Why?"

"I will show you the past."

Harley gaped. "How? Isn't that impossible?"

She smirked. "Seeing the past is simple magic," she said with distant eyes, as if she had said that before. "Even a banished titan can do this much. Now, take my hands."

Harley nodded and hesitantly obeyed. The moment his huge, calloused hands grasped her small, smooth ones, a white fog came out of nowhere and enveloped them.

* * *

_**A/N: Let me clarify something. It is my opinion that Calypso is a third generation titan (since Atlas is second generation, as apparent in the newest Greek Gods book—which makes Gaea being her grandmother absolutely wrong RICK). Though official legends say that she is a nymph, Rick makes her out to be more than that in both series. I know that Rick keeps referring to her as a goddess when either Percy or Leo describe her, but I think she's got a bit more potential than the average Olympian god, so I will make her out to be a titan. If you don't approve, then please don't bring the flames. Try to ignore it as best you can, but her being a titan is kind of essential to this particular story…**_

_***phew* There, that's out of the way. Did anyone catch the reference in the title? :D**_

_**There is also a reason for Calypso looking older, which will be explained in the flashback.**_

_**Yeah, I totally made this a Hazel-like flashback-thing. Rick doesn't explain how she saw the past, so I rolled with it :3**_

_**Now, I encourage you all to review and make silly guesses at what I've written. Things aren't adding up in the story, are they?**_


	28. The Rich Latino's Experiences in Falling

_**Sorry for the delay on this, I had a bit of a brain fart when I forgot how to begin this stupid chapter. I pulled something out my butt so here ya go! It gets better later on in the chapter.**_

_**More of the original Tulio, yay!**_

_**PercyJacsonOracle: That's funny. Not the reference I was getting at, but still a great little story!**_

_**ArtemisApollo97: OMG you're reading my stories! *faints***_

_**Chris: As usual you make me laugh! :3 I felt like putting on a troll face when I read the first half of that post! xD**_

_**And to everyone else: You guessed it! You guessed the REALLY NOT VERY MYSTERIOUS MYSTERY that is Calypso being the twins' mother. I wasn't trying very hard to hide that fact :P Congrats and cookies to all who got it! (::)(::)(::)**_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize as canon. By the way, the Ritz Madrid is also a real place, so I don't own that either.**_

* * *

**Twenty-Seven: The Rich Latino's Experiences in Falling**

After they had paid for their meal (Leo was _very_ grateful for the debt-free credit card and sent up an extra offering through his own flames to Hermes under the table) the trio asked Diego a few questions concerning Leo's past.

Here's what they learned:

1.) Leo and his girl—apparently his _wife_, which was news to a ring-less Leo—often visited the restaurant.

2.) Leo was rich—at least they knew why.

3.) Tulio Valdez was named after a waiter. That was hilarious to Percy. (this was from Leo's recount of the memory, not through Diego)

4.) Leo and his wife had mentioned many times that they had been staying at a hotel called the Ritz, one of the most prestigious and expensive hotels in Madrid.

Leo had asked Diego the fate of the waiter Tulio. Diego had to think hard on that one and eventually remembered that the young man had been offered a job elsewhere about eight months ago. Leo thanked him and gave him a generous tip (which was however-many bills he had in his wallet).

"The Ritz, huh?" Percy muttered as they walked down the street. "Man, Leo, you sure knew how to take a vacation, didn't you?"

Leo grinned. "Apparently!" He waved the Visa around. "This card is freakin' awesome! I wish I had known about this earlier on in my business career."

"Why?" Hazel asked.

"Almost went bankrupt," Leo said, shrugging. "But I managed. Just had to expand my working-range a bit, that's all. Get some older demigods in on buying some weapons; fix a monster's hangnail…y'know, expansion on business interests."

Percy shook his head, trying to ignore the monster hangnail part. "You almost went bankrupt and you're acting like it was just you stepping in gum!"

Leo wrinkled his nose. "That was two years ago—before the twins came! I could give two harpy splats about it now that I got a steady income."

Percy snorted. "Whatever, dude. So, I guess we head to this Ritz place?"

"Sounds like a good idea," Hazel chimed in. "It's the best lead we've got."

Leo skipped ahead. "Fun! Let's go bother some rich people!"

Percy and Hazel jogged to catch up to the skipping Latino. Percy grabbed his shoulder. "Do you even know where you're going?" he panted.

"Not a damn clue!" Leo laughed, shaking the son of Poseidon's hand off.

Percy wanted to punch Leo Valdez. The Ritz was spectacular! It looked almost like a palace on the outside, with limos and expensive cars lined up on the road beside it. Lovely trees dotted the surrounding sidewalks.

And the inside? In a word? Gorgeous. In three words? Expensive as Hades!

The inner foyer had a mahogany (?) table with tiger lilies in a huge vase on top. A beautiful red and gold rug sat under the table. To their left was a grand staircase lined with a similar red and gold carpet. Silk curtains lined the huge bow windows. A huge chandelier hung above the foyer.

Oh, everything about this place made Percy want to stab the son of Hephaestus in the eye!

"Dammit, Leo," Percy growled. "I go missing: I get amnesia and nearly get killed by every monster imaginable after being trained by wolves. You go missing: You stay in a fucking expensive hotel for, like, _free_ and get married to (apparently) the girl of your dreams! What the Hades, man? That's totally unfair!"

Leo held his hands up in surrender. "Well to be fair, the reason you went missing was for a war. You needed to assimilate with the Romans. The reason I went missing was for some girl that smells like cinnamon…not exactly a war-like reason, y'know?"

Hazel giggled. Percy just ended up glaring at him.

"At any rate," Leo said, shrugging. "Let's see if these guys remember me like Diego did!"

As it turns out, they did.

The man behind the concierge _**(A/N: Might I add how hard that was to spell)**_ counter (the assistant manager, Percy guessed) was around their age, meaning lower twenties, with combed-back black hair and deep brown eyes. He could have been Leo's twin if he wasn't a shade lighter or about a foot taller than the son of Hephaestus. He glanced up as Leo approached and did a double-take.

"Mister Valdez!" he shouted, creating an echo. "It's you!"

Leo grinned. "Tulio! Who would have guessed you got a job here?"

Hazel and Percy exchanged a glance. That's_ the guy little Tulio was named after?_ Percy thought, holding back a laugh. _Man, named after a waiter/hotel clerk…poor little guy will be devastated when he grows up! Ha!_

"Where is Mrs. Valdez?" Tulio asked, looking around.

"That's kinda why we're here," Leo said, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's really complicated…Look, I know it was years ago, but can you look up what room me and the lady stayed in while we were here?"

Tulio smiled. "Of course! Let me check our guest history…" He started typing on the computer. A few minutes later he looked up, confused. "It says here you haven't checked out? You still are in possession of the room…"

Percy blinked. Was it really _that_ kind of hotel? They might as well have said _ROOM FOR RENT_ if they were letting Leo pay years in advance for a room he wouldn't even be staying in!

"Dude, seriously?" Percy said, clapping Leo on the back. "You still actually _have_ the room?"

Leo shrugged. Tulio shook his head, as if trying to remember something. "He shouldn't have owned it that long," he mumbled. "I could have sworn we let someone have it just last month…"

_Oh_, Percy realized. _There must have been a god expecting this. Touché, gods…But why keep the room?_

"Let's go see the room before Tulio tells the staff to clean it," Hazel suggested. The boys nodded in agreement.

Leo tipped Tulio with whatever cash he had left, asked for the room number and spare key and said a cheerful goodbye.

They hopped onto the elevator. Percy turned to Leo. "Which floor?"

Leo looked at the spare key Tulio had given him. He squinted at the number in the corner of the card. "Um…top, I think? That's where the presidential and royal suites are."

Hazel pushed the top button and the doors closed.

"Leo," Percy growled.

"Hmm?"

"If you were staying in a royal suite the entire time we were searching for you, thinking you were dead or captured…I swear to all the gods I will drown you…"

Hazel nodded. "Making us worry like that. Geeze, you money hogger!"

Leo suppressed a laugh and said in a mock-fear tone, "Please don't kill me! Here: I swear on the River Styx if I disappear for a girl and end up in a fancy hotel for free again, I'll invite you guys to stay with us! How's that sound?"

Percy lost it and punched Leo in the arm. "Doesn't do us any good _now_ you dork. But, it was a nice gesture. So, I recommend you disappear next summer and come back here. Annabeth and I are looking for a good place to spend a vacation and so far Spain looks really nice!"

They all laughed. The elevator gave a _DING_ and the doors opened. The hallway was just as gorgeous as the foyer, with beautiful red and gold carpet, exotic plants sitting on long tables. Large paintings lined the walls, depictions of oceanic scenes and wonderful gardens framed in gold and bronze.

There were only two rooms on this floor, it seemed; the Presidential Suite and the best of the Royal Suites. Leo trotted down the hall and stood in front of the door to the Royal Suite. He looked rather pale again, like he had before arriving at Camp Half-Blood.

Percy watched as Hazel gripped the Latino's shoulder lovingly. Percy gripped his other shoulder.

"Whatever happens," the son of Poseidon said, "We're here for you, Leo. All joking and empty threats aside, we're your friends. If you're hurting, don't hesitate to tell us."

Leo smiled. "I'll keep that in mind."

Percy and Hazel let go of his shoulders and Leo took a deep breath. When he exhaled, he swiped the key card into the slot on the door. When it went green, Leo grabbed the handle.

He stiffened. Percy and Hazel exchanged a worried glance.

"Leo?" Hazel asked. "You okay?"

Leo began shaking, much like he had back in the restaurant! His wide eyes went completely white. A wisp of white smoke began curling out of his mouth.

Percy and Hazel panicked. They expected Leo wouldn't be able to keep himself up in this state, so they both lunged forward and grabbed the son of Hephaestus's arms.

The fog began to weave around them, thickening. Hazel gasped and tried to let go, and Percy went to do the same. As soon as he had let go, Hazel faced him.

"What's going on?" she asked, scared out of her mind.

"I-I don't know," Percy answered. He glanced over at Leo. "Leo, do you—"

But when he turned towards Leo, the Latino was gone! Percy gasped and gazed worriedly at Hazel. She gasped, too and started calling out for the son of Hephaestus.

Suddenly, Hazel's form began to flicker until it settled on a ghostly image of herself. Percy looked down at himself and realized his form was now spirit-like as well.

The fog around them began to shift and blow away, revealing a whole new landscape—the sky.

Hazel sucked in a breath. "I think we're in Leo's past! Look!"

Below them was a huge expanse of water. Percy sensed it was the Atlantic Ocean. Flying just below Percy and Hazel was Festus—brand spanking new and not slightly worn like Percy had last seen him a couple hours ago.

Riding atop Festus was Leo, who was holding a very old-looking astrolabe with a crystal installed on top.

Percy turned to ghost-Hazel. "How did you know it was the past?"

She shrugged. "Remember, I used to have flashbacks when I first came back to life. I shared some with Frank when we were going to Alaska and Leo before the Shrimpzilla attack. This must be Leo sharing his memory with us. It's probably because we grabbed him as he started to remember!"

Percy nodded. "How do we get down there? We need to figure out if Leo's okay."

Hazel drifted downwards, towards Festus. Percy willed himself to go down as well. It was like he had a parachute on. Percy took note that even though Leo and Festus were travelling at high speeds, Hazel and Percy didn't feel anything or show any signs of going very fast.

Percy somehow sped up to get a better look at Leo to see how far into the past they had gone. He gasped.

This was the Leo from one month after the Giant War! He was almost the same as when he had disappeared, with his extremely curly black hair and young, rounder face. But Percy could see he was _way_ different than the impish boy they had known on the _Argo II_ or even the gruff young adult they knew now.

There were huge purple bags under this Leo's eyes. His face, though still young, looked gaunt. His cheekbones were very prominent and Leo's normal smile was long gone, replaced by an emotionless frown. His body was thin, his clothes literally hanging off of him. His suspenders whipped behind him, not even hanging on to his shoulders—though that was mostly because there was a backpack tied to his chest. His tool belt might've slipped off of his hips if he stood up. Leo looked as frail and fragile as a glass dolphin on display. He seemed almost ready to fall off of Festus.

But there was one look in his otherwise hollow, tired eyes that made Percy believe Leo was still Leo: Determination.

Hazel floated up and gasped when she saw Leo's face. "Oh, gods," she muttered. "How…?"

Percy shushed her. "Something's happening…"

* * *

_Festus suddenly creaked. Leo looked around and frowned. "Keep searching, anyway," he croaked. "The astrolabe says it's around here!"_

_A chill crept up his spine, like someone was watching Leo. He tried to ignore is as Festus reported something._

Creak. Whirr. Tap. Creak.

"_I'M FINE!" he yelled. "Stop worrying, Festus! I'm okay. If you would stop worrying about me, maybe you'd be able to find that stupid island!"_

_Festus spun his rotating teeth and snapped his jaws together._

"_I'll sleep when we get there." Leo held back a yawn at the mention of sleep. His speech was sounding a little slurred, now that he thought about it. "Someone's gotta keep a lookout for changes in the astrolabe. It's already happened three times!"_

_Festus shook his head and snorted._

"_Keep scanning and stop worrying about me!" Leo was bone-dead tired. His vision was beginning to blur, but he shook his head and blinked away exhaustion. "I'm totally fine!"_

* * *

Percy could tell Leo _wasn't_ fine. He saw Hazel shaking her head like she was thinking the same thing.

"Doesn't he realize he's not a machine," she mumbled. "He can't keep going like that. He'll kill himself."

Percy responded, "Well, at least we know he didn't. He's with us now, so whatever happened in this time to make him so tired won't kill him."

Hazel nodded, relieved.

* * *

_Festus suddenly roared, sputtering oil into the sea randomly. Leo perked up._

"_What?" he yelled. "How close?"_

_Festus roared again._

"_Well, hurry up! We don't want to—there it is!"_

_Leo was bouncing with newfound energy. There was the island! The cursed island that kept moving! "Three weeks of nonstop flying," Leo muttered, grinning. He hadn't smiled in three weeks, so the grin kind of hurt. "Three weeks of torturous waiting! I've found it at last!"_

_Festus snorted._

"_Fine," he grumbled. "WE found it at last!"_

_As they drew closer, Leo could see the force field. It wrapped around the island like a bubble. Before Leo could turn Festus, the dragon had zipped through the bubble._

_The second Leo was inside, Festus shut down. They began falling, rather rapidly, towards the water. Leo sighed loudly. How many times must he go through this in his life? What fall was this? Number forty-seven? He couldn't remember when he lost count, maybe around thirty…_

_Leo maneuvered to try and reach Festus's control panel. But Festus was too heavy, and fell faster than Leo, ending up out of reach. The son of Hephaestus sighed again and pulled at a drawstring attached to his chest._

_A parachute shot out of the backpack on his back. Air gathered in the fabric and Leo floated down gently towards the water. Festus smashed into the waves below._

"_Why didn't I just make one of these when I first came here?" He said to himself. "That would have been a lot easier…and a lot less explosive…"_

* * *

Percy had no clue what that meant. He gazed past Leo at the island. It seemed familiar somehow…like he had been there before…

"That couldn't be…" he whispered. "When did Leo…?"

* * *

_Leo landed in the water safely. He detached himself from the heavy parachute. Festus suddenly surfaced from his crash moments before. Leo smiled as Festus's eyes lit up and the automaton began to swim around, completely unharmed from the high fall into the ocean when he was deactivated._

"_Good thing I made you waterproof," Leo remarked. "Best idea ever!"_

_Leo looked on toward the island. His heart skipped a beat and he started swimming._

_The weeks of barely eating and sleeping caught up to him in that swim. Leo could barely keep his head above the waves, paddling slowly towards the shore with two huge craters. Festus swam behind the son of Hephaestus, nosing him along and keeping him afloat with his claws. Leo didn't want to climb back onto the dragon. No, he would get to the island himself! He didn't need Festus to carry him!_

"_Stupid island," Leo said, sputtering seawater. "Let me in! LET ME IN!"_

_Suddenly, a huge wave rose up and carried Leo to shore. Leo, being the graceful guy that he is, flopped onto the sand headfirst and ended up looking like a dead fish as he lay on his side, heaving._

_Exhaustion crashed into him. Leo felt darkness creeping up on him. The warm sand and the gentle waves lapping at his body began soothing him. His eyes closed without permission, though at this point, Leo was aware he couldn't control anything anymore._

_He felt Festus curl up beside him protectively. The hum of machinery within the dragon lulled Leo further into the darkness._

_The last thing he registered was the smell of cinnamon and the beautiful voice of one particular girl._

"_What in the world?"_

* * *

Percy was suddenly thrown back into the present before he could see who the voice belonged to. Though, to be honest, he knew _exactly_ who it belonged to.

Leo was panting, leaning against the door. Hazel stood near him, stroking his back. Percy felt tempted to bring up the girl's identity, but kept it to himself.

_I have a feeling he won't register her name yet_, Percy thought. _Whatever's in this room will most likely be the key to him fully remembering her. When that happens, _then_ I'll talk to him about her._

"You alright, man?" Percy asked.

Leo nodded and gave a weak thumbs up. "I'm good. I wasn't expecting you guys there..."

"You were with us?"

"Kinda," he said. "I felt your presence, but couldn't really register it until after the vision. I was experiencing the past first-hand. You guys were just watching from the side."

Hazel nodded. "Like when we shared my flashback. I always felt a deeper connection to my past experiences but felt displaced when we saw Sammy in Houston. Though this was way more extreme."

Leo huffed out a laugh. "Yup." He straightened out. "I'm okay now."

"You sure?" Hazel tried to hold out a steadying hand, but Leo waved it off.

"I'm sure. C'mon! Let's get this party started!"

Leo gripped the handle again and opened the door without any other problems.

* * *

_**A/N: BOO is almost here! OMG I CAN'T WAIT!**_

_***exhales***_

_**Kay, so...For those of you about to say "We know it's Calypso, why keep it a secret now?" well the trio don't know! No one in camp knows. Only Harley and the twins know about Calypso being the mom. And now Percy has a sneaky suspicion, too. I made it so Leo never told anyone about his marooned experience even after the war, so that's why no one can connect the dots.**_

_**And for future reference:**_

_**You all should read ArtemisApollo97's stories about Leo and Louisa! Especially "Charlie Valdez". Charlie was my inspiration behind the start of the Valdez family :)**_


	29. The Long-Winded Talk in the Petunias

_**Sorry this took so long, but once you read this long-ass chapter, you'll understand.**_

_**There won't be much in the romantic Caleo department in this chapter. Once again, this long thing would've been even longer had I developed the romantic part of their relationship much further! D:**_

_**This chapter took me about four days. I hope you're happy.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the canon characters.**_

* * *

**Twenty-Eight: The Long-Winded Talk in the Petunias**

Harley watched as the deep fog began to dissipate, revealing…

…the exact same spot they had been in.

"That's anti-climactic," he grumbled.

"Pardon?" Calypso tilted her head. "Anti what?"

"Nothing." Harley had meant to wave it off, but as soon as he saw two Calypsos he yelped. He pointed to the Calypso that was standing behind Calypso—okay, that made Harley's brain nearly explode…

The other Calypso was about eight years younger. She was wearing the same outfit; a pair of blue jeans topped with a white t-shirt. Her hair was braided the same as well. Harley would have been mixing the two up if the other one didn't look so young.

Harley's Calypso giggled at his confused expression. "Don't worry. She can't see or hear us. Let's watch. It's about to happen."

Harley was about to ask what 'it' was, but she waved her hand.

"I'll let you feel what I feel, and let you read my thoughts during this 'adventure'. Don't worry; there's nothing to make you feel embarrassed!"

Harley silently thanked her as he began to watch the scene before him unfold.

* * *

_Calypso dug furiously, trying to weaken the soil around the nasty weed before she started pulling. It was giving her trouble, this weed. She was determined not to hurt herself trying to pull it. She'd done that once and spent the day with blistered fingers. Even if she was immortal, it still burned like Hades. Never again._

_A whistling sound hit her ears. It wasn't unlike the time Leo had suddenly crashed on Ogygia._

_Oh, Styx, there was that thought again._

_Leo Valdez…Oh, Leo Valdez…_

_He had been the _different_ visitor from the start; that was for sure. All the others landed on her island injured and dying. All the others were amazing heroes with muscles and an aura that just _screamed_ hero. All the others had treated her like a goddess, which was what she was, technically speaking._

_But _he_ had been different. Leo had crashed on her island in a ball of fire. How he had survived without injuries was still a mystery to Calypso. Leo was scrawny, unattractive and absolutely _stank_ of motor oil and fire. But, though he was extremely annoying, Leo treated her as an equal; he treated her like a normal person, willing to let her help with his project, dreaming of owning a shop with her: Leo and Calypso's Auto Repair and Mechanical Monsters._

_Maybe that's why she felt a stronger love for him. He was different in every way. He fought her every step of the way. He promised to come back—okay, that one was the same as the others, but the way he promised it made it sound like he truly _would_ come back._

_Oh, she loved him so very much…_

* * *

Harley wanted to puke. That was a little too much in the emotion department for him, a son of Hephaestus that spent all his spare time alone in a forge.

"Pardon," Calypso apologized. "I forgot about my little digression there…"

* * *

_Anyway, there was a whistling sound again. Calypso turned to see something huge falling straight down. Something much smaller attempted to catch it, gave up, and suddenly gained a huge sail. While the bigger thing crashed into the water, the smaller thing gently floated down. They were too far away for Calypso to tell what they were, so she ran to the beach._

_The beach seemed the best option. After all, that's where the most interesting things seemed to happen…_

_She arrived on the beach a few minutes later to a strange sight._

_There was a huge bronze automaton dragon, wet and gleaming, dripping with seawater, curled up on the shore. It seemed to be protecting something. An egg perhaps? Its rider/creator? A valuable piece of treasure? She wasn't sure what it was—she was too far away to tell for sure—but it wasn't moving._

_"What in the world?" She yelled in disbelief._

_The mechanical dragon raised its head and fixed its ruby eyes on her. It whirred its teeth and snarled, spouting embers. Calypso took a step back, truly afraid._

* * *

Harley snickered. "Yeah, Festus can be pretty scary when he wants to be. Imagine him when he was broken and malfunctioning! _That_ was a nightmare!"

The Titaness rolled her eyes, trying to hide her smile.

* * *

_"I mean no harm," Calypso said softly, raising her hands in surrender. "Please settle down."_

_The automaton growled, its tail wrapping protectively around whatever it was guarding._

_"Does whatever you're protecting need help?" Calypso ventured. "Are they hurt?"_

_The dragon tilted its head. The tail curled tighter._

That would be a yes_, Calypso thought. "Let me help. I'm a healer. I swear on the River Styx that I mean no harm to you or the thing you're guarding."_

_The dragon nodded its head, but didn't move away. Calypso shuffled closer, keeping a close eye on the metal beast. It seemed to trust her, so she let her gaze drift downward. She gasped._

_The dragon had been protecting a teenage boy, sleeping in the sand. But not just any boy…_

_…the boy lying on her beach was none other than Leo Valdez!_

_Only…_

_He looked extremely thin and frail-looking. He was far skinnier than last she saw him and his clothes draped over him like sheets now. His breathing was shallow, which made her extremely nervous._

_Calypso bent down and picked Leo up to carry him bridal-style._

Gods, he's so light_, she thought despairingly. _I can feel every rib! When did he eat last?

_The bronze dragon growled a warning, smoke curling from its nostrils, but it didn't strike her down. It merely walked behind her as she carried the son of Hephaestus inland. Calypso paid it no mind. She was too busy trying to figure out how Leo had gotten this way._

_She soon reached the cave. The Titaness turned to the machine and said, "He needs to recover inside. Do what you want out here, just don't smash or burn my garden."_

_The dragon marched over to the cave and sat down at the entrance like a guard dog. Calypso shook her head and smiled at its loyalty to Leo._

_She carried Leo inside and laid him down gently onto the bed she used for every other hero that ended up on Ogygia. She inwardly laughed at the situation. Leo had been the only one that hadn't spent his time resting here during his visit. Now here he was: finally repeating the same pattern as his predecessors._

_Upon closer inspection, Calypso realized that Leo wasn't hurt. He was just sleep-deprived and starving. Though his situation was still grim, it wasn't as life threatening as Percy's, Drake's or even Odysseus's, and it made Calypso smile to see Leo wasn't dying._

_She tucked him into the sheets, realizing too late that he was still wet. She shook her head and untucked him. Without even batting an eye, she stripped him down (she left his underwear untouched), dried him off with a towel, and changed him into some dry cotton pants and a long-sleeved cotton shirt. She had done it with the other heroes; it was just routine at this point._

_She tucked him in again. Leo groaned and shifted to his side, twisting himself further into the blanket and sheets. Calypso sighed._

_She ordered her servants to start preparing a few meals for when he awoke. She couldn't do anything more for him now. Sleep was the thing he obviously needed right now. She'd worry about his lack of food later._

* * *

Harley chuckled. "Leo's like that. He'd be so wrapped up in a project sometimes that Nyssa and Jake would have to drag him away and force him to eat or sleep!"

"Nyssa and Jake," Calypso drawled. "Ah, yes, Leo's siblings! He spoke highly of them…Oh, I see! You're _that_ Harley!"

Harley tilted his head. "Leo's mentioned me?"

"Many times!" She giggled. "He always said you were his favorite sibling!"

Harley felt pleased to be the favorite of Leo's. He beamed.

Calypso playfully slapped him on the shoulder. "Pay attention or I'll just bore you with a speech on why Leo and I aren't together."

"Sorry," he said, rubbing his shoulder. "I'll behave."

* * *

_A few hours later, Leo woke up. He weakly looked around, his eyes clouded with exhaustion. His gaze finally rested on Calypso, who was currently sitting at her loom, in the middle of making Leo a new outfit that wouldn't drape over him like a curtain._

_"C-Calypso," he croaked. "How's it goin', Sunshine?"_

_Calypso slightly fumed at the nickname, but she let it drop when she saw Leo trying to fight off sleep. She rose from her seat at the loom and walked over to the son of Hephaestus._

_"Sleep, Leo," she urged. "You need it."_

_"But I came all this wayyy," he whined._

_Calypso pulled the blanket back up to his chin. "I can see that. But you need to sleep. Don't fight it, Leo. You're safe and sound here."_

_"I'm hungry," he admitted through a yawn._

_Calypso took a fruit platter from the nearby table. She held up a couple of orange slices. "Here."_

_Leo practically inhaled the fruit and begged for more. Pretty soon, he had devoured the whole platter. Calypso stopped him at that and insisted he go back to sleep._

_Leo didn't argue this time. The food had settled inside his shrunken stomach, making it impossible for him to fend off sleep any longer. He closed his eyes. A few seconds later, a snore escaped his lips._

_Calypso giggled and went back to her loom._

* * *

_About a half a day later, around sunset, Leo woke up again._

_This time Calypso was sitting next to the bed, wiping the son of Hephaestus's forehead with a damp cloth. Whether he had a fever or his fire powers made him have a high internal temperature, Calypso thought Leo was a bit hot to the touch. She figured she'd cool him off a bit._

_Leo's gaze drifted to her. He grinned sleepily. "What's up?"_

_Calypso cocked an eyebrow. "I see you decided to wake up. How are you feeling?"_

_"Better," he replied, sitting up. "How long was I out?"_

_"Maybe a little over half a day." She held up another platter—this one had a few mini sandwiches and a bowl of beef stew. "Still hungry?"_

_Leo gobbled the sandwiches faster than Calypso could blink. He slurped up the stew much slower, however, like he was savoring the taste. He smiled._

_Calypso tried not to return it, but gods did he look cute when he smiled!_

_"So," she began. "Who must I kill for sending _you_ of all people back to Ogygia?"_

_Leo held up a bony hand to his heart. "That hurts, Sunshine! After I fulfilled my promise and everything! The only reason I'm lying in this bed is because of you! I thought you loved me!"_

_Calypso snorted. "Please! You are the most annoying hero to ever wash up on my island. Why would I show you any sort of sympathy or love? I hate you."_

_"That's not the kind of message I got from your goodbye kiss," he said, wiggling his eyebrows. If he was trying to be seductive, it wasn't working—but it was still a cute try._

_Calypso rolled her eyes. "That didn't happen. I've no idea what you're talking about."_

_Leo smirked and got really close to her face. "It totally happened, and you know it!"_

_Calypso scoffed. "No it did not! You are without a doubt the most annoying person on the planet! You stink of oil and grease, not to mention you have a thing against perfectly good dining tables—"_

_Leo's lips suddenly smacked into hers, effectively shutting her up. She didn't notice last time how he smelled of wood smoke and coals. It was a fantastic smell. She silently noted how much of a great kisser he was. His lips were arguably the softest part of him. Everything else on his body was hardened and calloused. But his lips were soft and warm. She wanted to keep kissing him forever..._

* * *

Harley made a gagging noise and motioned putting his finger down his throat.

Calypso slapped him.

"It's so sappy I could die," he complained. "Get to the part where it explains why you and Leo are separated!"

Calypso rolled her eyes. "Is being annoying and rude something that runs in your family?"

"Only with the head counselors of Cabin Nine," he joked. "Most of the other Hephaestus kids don't have much of a sense of humor."

Calypso mumbled, "Aren't I lucky to know the ones that do…"

She waved her hand. The scene changed.

* * *

_It had been three days since Leo's return. The son of Hephaestus had recovered well, though at this point he was extremely bored of the eat-sleep-eat-sleep schedule Calypso had put him on. He had gained some fat again and was able to eat more than a tiny platter, no longer looking like a walking skeleton with curly hair. So, she finally allowed him some time out of the cave, much to his excitement._

_Now, as Leo sat nearby in the shade of a willow tree, tinkering with stuff pulled from his tool belt, Calypso began pulling weeds from her garden. She'd look over at him to make sure he was okay every few minutes—she did not want him overworking himself. Okay, she also wanted to make sure he was really there, and not an illusion or a dream. But she would never say that out loud._

_Every time he caught her looking, he'd give a cute smile and a thumbs-up, meaning he was okay._

_As Leo fiddled with the thing in his hands and Calypso pulled a weed out, a bright light suddenly illuminated the garden. Calypso shut her eyes at the sudden brightness._

_When she opened them again, there were gods standing in her petunias._

_"I just weeded those!" she screamed. "Why would you do that?"_

_There were four gods present: Hermes, Aphrodite, Hephaestus and Hecate. That was an odd combination, to say the least._

_Aphrodite looked as if she was about to squeal in delight. Hecate looked bored out of her mind. Hermes and Hephaestus were both suppressing smiles._

_Finally, Aphrodite snapped and squealed, "Ooooh! You two look so cuuuute together! I knew allowing you to reunite was a good idea! I've found my new OTP!"_

_Calypso didn't want to know what an OTP was. It sounded painfully embarrassing. "What are you all doing here?"_

_Hermes stepped forward—onto her newly planted daisies, no less. "We're here to discuss the conditions of Leo's return to Ogygia."_

_Leo glared at them. "You never said anything about conditions! My wish was to come back for her and you granted it!"_

_"I'm sorry, son," Hephaestus said sadly. "It is the Fates' doing. They have decreed that you two may not live together."_

_"WHAT!?"_

_It took a while to realize that both she and Leo had screamed that word at the top of their lungs._

_"We tried to convince them otherwise," Aphrodite pleaded. "But they would not allow it!"_

_"And why not?" Calypso yelled. "Is it that I am still cursed to stay on this forsaken rock?"_

_"If that's the case, I'll stay here," Leo begged. "I don't have anything to go home to anyway! I'll stay on Ogygia with Calypso!"_

_"It's not that," Hermes stated. "It's the fact you returned that has heralded a problem."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_Hephaestus sighed. "Even we are not clear on why the Fates do not want this. They do not wish for you to be together—"_

_"I saved the world with my friends," Leo protested. "I lost my mom at a young age and had a horrible childhood because of Gaea! I deserve this happy ending, at least!"_

_Hecate snorted. The action made Calypso jump, as she had forgotten the goddess of magic and crossroads had even been there. "You are a living Greek legend. Being alive is a happy ending in itself!"_

* * *

Harley nodded in agreement. As much as he wanted to have a happy ever after like most mortals got, he had pretty much accepted that any day could be his last.

* * *

_Leo looked down, as if defeated. He couldn't argue with that._

_Calypso moved and sat next to him. Leo smiled at her._

_"Let me finish," Hephaestus scolded. Calypso didn't know if that tone was directed at Leo or Hecate. "The Fates said they do not wish for you to be together…right now."_

_Leo's breath hitched. Calypso hesitated._

_Aphrodite nodded. "They have set some conditions on your return, Leo. There is a reason for this: Since you are the first to find Ogygia twice and are willing to stay, the spell of Calypso falling for every man that lands on her island has been broken. But, the terms of the breaking of her spell was a man willing to stay with her the first time, not the second. Which is probably why the Fates are not happy with the reunion. So, they made an arrangement: If she agrees to leave with Leo, then Calypso is set free from the island…for a set period of time."_

_ Calypso wanted to rage. She held her tongue as Hermes continued:_

_"It's not up to us! The Fates decreed it, so we can't really go against them. They always win in the end…"_

_He turned to Calypso specifically. "The moment you and Leo leave the island, you have until Leo's 21st birthday. The day after his birthday will be when you cannot be together again."_

_Leo grumbled, "Then I'll just come back again! I did it once, I can do it again!"_

_"No," Hephaestus retorted. "Coming back now apparently was not something the Fates wanted. Should you try to return, you would…die."_

_Leo paled. "What if I stay here?" he repeated. "What if we didn't leave at all?"_

_"Then the island would force you out," Aphrodite answered sadly. "And it probably would hurt."_

_Hecate piped up again. "I have been keeping the island's magic at bay, allowing you to stay this short period, Leo Valdez. I cannot hold that forever."_

_Leo sat up straighter. "So…" he ventured. "We get until my 21st year and then can't see each other again. When _will_ we be together? You said we could meet a third time, right?"_

_"Here's the thing," Hermes said. "We actually are not sure _if_ or_ when_ you will be able to reunite. The Fates were very clear on why we could not just remove the ancient magic tying you to this island, Calypso."_

_"You say that like you tried," Calypso said, her voice dripping with venom._

_"We did," Hephaestus growled. "We tried removing the ancient magic when Percy Jackson wanted us to free you. Something is keeping us from completely removing it."_

_"What!?" Calypso asked, her voice almost in a yell. "What could possibly be preventing you from removing the magic—Oh, should I mention it was you who put the ancient magic here in the FIRST PLACE!?"_

_Hecate stepped closer. "Your immortality is the problem. It has been tied to the island for too long."_

_"As you know," Aphrodite continued, "One's immortality usually eventually connects to something; like love, magic, healing, thievery…You get the point. Your immortality had tied itself to the island long ago. If you leave, the island will disappear. And if the island disappears…"_

_Calypso connected the dots. If the island disappeared, her very reason to exist would be gone. She would fade away! "What if I become mortal? What if I choose to go with Leo and live as a mortal?"_

_Hephaestus shook his head. "The island would disappear the moment you chose that, and it would be too fast for you, who would still be turning mortal."_

_"I'm lost," Leo squeaked._

* * *

Harley could agree. His brain was imploding from all of the information.

* * *

_Calypso turned to Leo and explained, "I need something to tie my immortality down to. Ogygia is my tie. If I leave permanently, even if I try to become mortal, I lose it too fast and I fade away. And if you stay with me; because you came back—which is against the rules—the island would force you off."_

_Leo looked down again, holding his head in his hands. After what seemed like hours of silence, he spoke up. "So…only five years, huh? Why cut it off when I turn 21?"_

_"The Fates decided the time limit," Hephaestus said. "It wasn't up to us. You should feel lucky to get that long and not five minutes."_

_Calypso scooted closer to Leo. "I'm afraid this is all we get, I guess."_

_Leo nodded, a look of defeat plastered across his face. For once, he was completely still._

_Aphrodite cleared her throat. "Time for what happens during those five years!" She looked like she absorbed all of Leo's missing nervous energy, bouncing around like she did. "You'll be together for every day of the next five years! Yay!"_

_Calypso loved this idea, though she would never admit that out loud. Every day with Leo Valdez out in the mortal world? That was more than she ever wanted!_

_"With your permission, Leo," Hermes said, "We would like to do something about your memory during the next five years."_

_Leo stiffened. "Excuse me?"_

_Hermes held up his hands in surrender. "Let me make this clear—it was Aphrodite's idea."_

* * *

Harley snorted. "It would be her idea to mess with Leo's memory. So now we know why he couldn't remember…"

Calypso shook her head sadly. "Keep watching."

* * *

_Aphrodite rolled her eyes. "It's a good idea! Basically, we're going to make you nearly invisible to monsters. How, you ask? Well, you survived really well alone without any monster attacks growing up—especially as a fire-user, which makes you much more powerful than the average demigod. But as soon as you knew you were a demigod, monsters could smell you. Solution: Remove the memories of being a demigod!"_

_Leo looked offended. "Seriously? I mean, I know I almost died, like, seven thousand times on the Gaea quest, but at least it was better than being homeless and wanting to die! I don't want to lose all those awesome memories!"_

_Hecate grumbled, "You won't be losing them. I'm covering them up with a simple blocking spell. You'll still have your memories, they'll just be behind a wall of fog. You won't even have to worry about them, mostly because you won't remember."_

_"I don't know," Leo growled, clearly not wanting his mind tampered with again. Calypso remembered him telling her of Hera completely messing with his memories of a Wilderness School. He still couldn't remember what happened for real there and probably never would again at this point._

_Hecate huffed in annoyance and waved her hand. A wisp of white fog came out of nowhere and zoomed into Leo's mouth. He choked a bit and took a deep breath. Calypso patted his back._

_"Tell me about your friend Frank Zhang," Hecate said._

_"Frank?" Leo sat there for a good minute, scrunching up his brows in deep thought. "He…uh…he was…Canadian? Yeah…and he…uh…" Leo's eyes fogged up slightly before clearing. "He was Chinese, too…son of…Ares? No, Mars! 'Cause he was Roman…?" He looked up at Hecate with wide, fearful eyes. "What did you do to me?"_

_"What did you see when I asked you about Frank?"_

_"I saw…" Leo paused, stiffening again. "It was like I knew he was there, but the fog kept blocking out who it really was…"_

_"But if you thought hard enough, it came back?"_

_Leo nodded. "Eventually, yeah. I guess it was like the words to a song you sang so much years ago, but haven't heard for a long time. Eventually the words come back if you think hard enough."_

_"Did it hurt?" Calypso asked, gently touching his shoulder._

_"Nah," he said, shrugging. "It just felt soft and fuzzy. No pain, though."_

_"It's not meant to be painful," Hecate said, crossing her arms. She looked highly annoyed that she was still here. "Fog does not hurt, especially in regards to fogging up a memory. It only hurts when the spell is put on and taken off."_

_Leo nodded. "So, my memories of the past two years will just kinda…be fogged over?"_

_Hephaestus nodded. "Exactly. The moment Calypso returns to Ogygia will be the moment the fog in your mind clears."_

_Leo sat still for a good minute before nodding in consent. "Okay. I can handle that. Bring on the fog!"_

_Hecate waved her hand again. Fog curled around her, making its way towards the Latino. Leo gulped before the fog entered his mouth, nose, and even eyes. Calypso wanted to help, but interference would make it worse. Leo collapsed onto the grass and began shaking as more fog entered him._

_Then it was over._

_Leo shakily sat up, breathing hard. "I don't wanna do anything like that ever again…"_

_Hermes laughed. "Sucks, don't it?"_

_Hecate immediately started glowing. "I've done my job. Good bye."_

_She left in a blaze of light._

_Aphrodite stepped forward. "Now that your memory is fixed, here are the conditions: One—the moment you leave Ogygia, you have until Leo's 21st year before you must return."_

_"Two," Hephaestus continued. "No contact with any of the demigods, Roman or Greek, during the next five years. It'll be pretty easy, considering…" he trailed off, looking directly at Leo, who didn't react at all to the condition._

The fog has already made it easy for him to forget his friends_, Calypso assumed._

_"Three," Hermes chimed in. "When Calypso returns, Leo must not contact her in any way, shape or form. He also cannot return a third time. The punishment for returning is immediate death."_

_Calypso winced. Leo grimaced._

_"And that's pretty much it on what the Fates decreed," Aphrodite concluded. "Whatever you do during the five years is up to you."_

_She leaned in closer to Leo. Calypso could barely hear her whisper, "I recommend a tour of Europe. Highly romantic!"_

_Leo blushed furiously. His hair ignited out of sheer embarrassment. He patted out the flames within a minute._

_"I'll be taking Festus with me," Hephaestus added. "You two need to keep a low profile if you want to be normal-looking."_

_Leo looked extremely crest-fallen. "Aww, man," he whined. "And after I just finished rebuilding him!"_

_"I'm givin' him back," the god retorted sharply. "Zeus knows how ornery that thing will get after I take him away. He'll be a bit of trouble for me, but I've managed worse."_

_Hermes started grinning. "Now we get to why I'm here!"_

_He bent down and held up a golden square. "Since you'll be travelling, you'll officially be sponsored by moi! This is a card I only give to great travelers. Marco Polo, Columbus, Leif Ericson…all sponsored by me! You've travelled a lot this past year, Leo, and with the whole Gaea thing, I think you deserve this. It's a great honor!"_

_He handed Leo the card. "Have fun on your vacation. This'll cover all the costs. Don't worry about debt."_

_Leo accepted it with a twinkle in his eye and a very imp-like grin. Calypso felt a little worried at that, but said nothing._

_Hephaestus came closer and traded spots with Hermes. He looked his son in the eye. "I'm proud of you, son," he said. Calypso could tell he meant it. "Your mother is proud, too. Esperanza is smiling at all you've achieved."_

_Leo's eyes watered. A few tears fell down his cheeks. He didn't wipe them away. "Thanks, Dad…" he choked out. "Thanks so much for that…"_

_Calypso stroked his back. Leo shot her a grateful smile._

_Hephaestus abruptly stood. "Time for us to go. Once Leo is fully recovered the raft will appear to take you off the island. Good bye, Leo. See you in five years."_

_He left in a blaze of fire. Calypso snorted at how dramatic it was._

_Hermes nodded. "Safe travels," he said with a salute before disappearing as well._

_Aphrodite was the only goddess left now. She looked at the two in the grass with the biggest smile on her face. "Yes," she said to herself. "Yes, I can _definitely_ make this work!"_

_And with that, she was gone._

_Leo turned to Calypso. "Well," he said. "I don't know about you, but that meeting made me hungry."_

_Calypso nodded, looking at the destroyed mess that used to be her flowerbed. She sighed, "My poor petunias…"_

* * *

The scene faded and Harley found himself back in the present. The twins were playing under the willow tree. Harley realized with a jolt that had been the same willow tree where the meeting had occurred eight years ago.

"Wow," he breathed. "So _that's_ why Leo didn't contact us for those first five years…I think the gods should have told us, though," he said bitterly. "Would've saved us the trouble of looking if they had told us he was fine to begin with!"

Calypso smiled. "I don't think Leo's friends would have stopped looking, to be honest. When he spoke of them on his first visit, he said they would do anything for each other. I'm pretty sure they would have wanted to see him travel with me with their own eyes."

She had a point. Harley nodded.

"But his memory," he said. "Hecate said that the fog would disappear at the end of the five years…why did she make it so he can't remember you at all? From what I saw, that wasn't a part of the deal!"

Calypso shook her head. "No, it wasn't part of the deal. Hecate kept her end of the bargain. She was not the one to make Leo forget me. She did not tamper with his memories of Ogygia and myself."

Harley's eyes widened as the Titaness finished.

"I did."

* * *

_**A/N: Uh-oh! Bad Calypso! Y U DO THAT!? D:**_

_**Holy.**_

_**Hephaestus.**_

_**That was painfully long! ALMOST 5k words! New record!**_

_**I tried SO HARD not to ramble in the explanations. That is why I originally made it four gods instead of just Hephaestus or Hecate. I hate walls of text, so breaking it between the four gods, though was a lot more work, it was much easier on the eyes. Phew.**_

_**Okay. So, if you thought that was long, buckle up. I'm pretty sure the next one will be around the same length! :o Be prepared for a bit of a wait, like last time. The longer the chapter, the longer the wait...Sorry :(**_


	30. I Remember

_***happy dance***_

_**This is gonna be a fluffy remembering, people! You saw Calypso recounting how they reunited and came up with how they separated, now it's time to see some of Leo's adventures with her!**_

_**WARNING: In the memory regarding the postcard (you'll know when you get there) I kept that as T-rated as I could.**_

_**EXTRA WARNING: Fire-truck word returns, but only a few times near the end.**_

_**Thank you to all the funny reviews about Calypso suppressing Leo's memories of her! :D I was at work and happened to read those reviews. That brightened my day considerably! And thank you to BluemoonAR and The Golden Sun for those lovely compliments!**_

_**Awesome as Annabeth: I'M SO JELLY! D: Y U GET LEO!? I want a Leo to be near, but nooo...Leo apparently doesn't like Hawaii... :(**_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and kids.**_

* * *

**Twenty-Nine: I Remember**

Leo tried to ignore the butterflies in his stomach as they entered the suite. Instead of just fluttering inside his stomach, it felt like the butterflies were mercilessly eating him alive…

But one look at the room was enough to distract Leo from the man-eating insects inside of him.

Elegant wallpaper lined the walls in colors of green, blue, and gold. The first room of the suite was filled with beautifully carved chairs surrounding a huge wooden table. The table had a large vase filled with flowers.

The bathroom was about as big as Leo's cabin back on the _Argo II_. The tub could probably pass for a queen-sized bed, in all honesty. And the sinks? Leo figured the tap and pipes were pure gold, same as the toilet.

The room that was the big attention-grabber, though, was the master bedroom. The walls were lined in a soft yellow wallpaper, which matched the pastel feeling of the room, since the delicate furniture pieces were either white or pearl-colored. The big king-sized bed took up half the room. It was unmade, which was weird.

Even weirder was what was on the chair next to the drawing desk.

Hazel held up the item. It was a small, worn, green army jacket. Leo knew that jacket anywhere.

It was _his_ jacket! His favorite army jacket that had burned up months before the big quest! Here it was, in semi-perfect condition, thrown onto a chair casually as if someone had _just_ taken it off.

"Gimme that," he demanded. Hazel looked taken aback at the sudden request, but stayed silent as she handed the jacket over to him.

The second Leo touched the jacket, he felt a vision coming on.

* * *

_"You actually made another one?"_

_Sixteen-year-old Leo was sitting in a small hotel room bed, one of two twin beds, watching his companion unpack a tote she had carried in. She had just pulled out a small army fatigue jacket._

_She smiled. "I knew you would find a way to lose the one I made you, so I made a back-up while you recovered."_

_Leo stood up and examined the tote bag. He grabbed the top item—a similar army fatigue jacket—and examined it. He wiggled his eyebrows at his companion. "This isn't my size. It's too form-fitting to be mine."_

_She ripped it out of his hands and threw the first jacket at him. "So I made myself one when you left! It was highly practical, especially on some of the colder nights!"_

_Leo grinned. "Aww, you wanted to match me? How sweet!"_

_She punched him lightly in the arm. "Don't touch my stuff again, loser."_

_"I'll totally touch it if you leave it out, Sunshine," he retorted._

_"Don't call me Sunshine," she snapped, clearly not in the playing mood when it came to that nickname._

_Leo pondered for a moment, rubbing his chin. "I think Sunshine really fits you. But, if you don't want to be called that…" he shrugged. "How about _mi sol_?"_

_She raised a delicate eyebrow. "_Mi sol_? What is that?"_

_"It's Spanish," he explained. "It means 'my sun'. Will that work?"_

_She narrowed her eyes at him. For a few minutes she held a look of deep thought, clearly mulling over the idea of his pet name for her in her mind._

_Eventually, she nodded slowly. "I guess that could work…" she said with reluctant submission. "But why are you so bent on calling me Sunshine, even in another language?"_

_He shrugged again. "Dunno. I guess at first it was a sarcastic nickname. 'Cause clearly you were not a bright-and-peppy kind of person when we first met. Many people say 'Sunshine' to a person who's in a bad mood."_

_"Then why still call me that?" she asked, raising an eyebrow with a dangerous expression. It was very clear to Leo that he was walking on thin ice with her at the moment._

_He smiled sheepishly. "Because, after I left, I realized that you _are_ my sunshine. The thought of getting you back brightened my day. Seeing you again…it was like I was brought back into the sun after spending so long in the dark. _That's_ why I call you Sunshine—or _mi sol_ now."_

_His companion studied his face for any sign of a lie. Leo admitted it sounded pretty cheesy when said aloud, but he had said the truth. When he was away from her, he felt like he was submerged in darkness. Now, nothing could cast a shadow on his mood with her around._

_She finally smiled. "Cliché, but I accept it. But only if you let me call you _í̱ro̱as_?"**(A/N: I think it's pronounced ee-row-as, but with the o a bit removed—at least that's how it sounded on Translate. If there are any Greeks in the house, please don't hesitate to correct!)**_

_Leo, being a Greek demigod, could read Greek and understand when it was suddenly said out loud, but that didn't mean he could translate it on the spot. "What does that mean?"_

_His companion kissed him. The smell of cinnamon wafted in the air and he felt like he was on cloud nine. After an eternity, she pulled back and smiled. Her almond eyes glittered lovingly._

_"Hero."_

* * *

Leo snapped his head up. Percy and Hazel were watching him with curious eyes.

"I can remember her eyes!" he exclaimed. "Tulio got her eyes! I mean, I kinda figured he did, but still—I actually saw her eyes, and they looked just like Tulio's!"

He was giddy with excitement. He looked down at the jacket and noticed that it was _her_ jacket! It was way too small to fit him, even as a sixteen-year-old, so it was _definitely_ hers.

He glanced around the room. "Guys," he started. "Look around and see if you can find anything—anything that doesn't look like it belongs. Clothes, tools, whatever you can find! Lay them on the bed."

Percy and Hazel shot off in two different directions. The scavenger hunt took a while, considering it was a lot of ground to cover and there were plenty of hiding spaces.

Eventually, they both came back and set down their spoils onto the green and gold blanketed bed. There were only four items, though.

Another army fatigue jacket—the one Leo's companion had made for him.

A hand-crafted, delicate metal rose.

A picture of Leo causally leaning against the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

And a postcard of Paris's Eiffel Tower.

Leo stared at the items, eyebrows furrowing in concentration. They all seemed like regular traveler's items. Just stuff you get as souvenirs. But Leo could sense that each of them held something more. Each of them was special to him in their own way.

Each one held a memory.

"Alright," he said, cracking his knuckles. "Time to do this." He pulled up a chair and sat down. "I don't want to hurt myself by passing out standing up," he explained with a grin. "Hand me the jacket, Percy."

Percy nodded and held up the fatigue jacket. "You want us to watch?"

Leo shook his head. "This is my thing. My memories. You guys watching my private moments would make it a little weird…I hope that's okay."

Hazel gripped his shoulder for a few seconds. "It's fine, Leo. Don't push yourself though. I know you must be excited, but we don't want you to hurt yourself."

"I'll be fine," Leo promised. "If it's too much, I'll say something."

Percy smiled. "Here you go, man."

He tossed the jacket to the son of Hephaestus.

The second the jacket touched him, Leo was thrown back into Memory World.

* * *

_"What is this?"_

_Leo and his companion (Future Leo would refer to her as Sunshine until her name came up) were just getting off a bus. The sign nearby read **Welcome to Lugano, Switzerland.**_

_"What is what, _mi sol_?" Leo asked, not understanding what was wrong. Sunshine was looking around with wide eyes._

_"This." She bent down and touched the white powder that had begun accumulate on the ground as the bus drove up._

_Leo snorted. "It's snow. You mean to tell me you've never seen snow!?"_

_Sunshine nodded. "Snow never came to the island, mostly because it would ruin my garden and it never got cold enough."_

_Leo chuckled. Sunshine slapped him. "Shut up," she growled._

_He silently laughed at her ignorance but kept up with her as she stormed away to gods know where._

_After a few minutes, he noticed her clutching her arms and shivering. He frowned. He had forgotten that 'cold' was even a thing, considering his fire powers always kept him at a nice and toasty 102 degrees (he was always a little grateful for that as a runaway kid in the wintertime, even if he furiously hated his powers). So, he had naturally forgotten that others got cold—really cold—when it snowed._

_Poor Sunshine was severely shivering. She hadn't been wearing her army jacket, thinking it wouldn't be so cold. She was only wearing a short sleeve shirt and jeans! It was the middle of January, for Pete's sake!_

_Leo sadly smiled and pulled off his own army jacket. He didn't know how warm it would make her, but it had to help a little before they found a hotel, right? He wouldn't be able to bear it if his Sunshine got a cold from the first snow she had ever experienced._

_He draped the jacket around her small, delicate shoulders. Sunshine looked at him with wide, almond-colored eyes._

_"L-Leo," she stuttered. "Why…?"_

_He wrapped his arm around her. "I'll be fine. I don't want you to get pneumonia."_

_She smiled sweetly at him. "Well…thanks…_í̱ro̱as_."_

_Leo kissed her cinnamon-toast-colored hair. "Anytime…_mi sol_."_

* * *

Leo jolted back. Percy and Hazel looked up at him. They each had taken a seat and were eating something that probably came from the min-fridge in the front room.

"Well?" Percy probed. "What'cha got?"

Leo stood up for a second, put on the jacket—which had somehow resized itself immediately to fit his more muscular form—and sat back down again. "Her hair is like Hazel's; it's like a cinnamon color."

His mind felt heavy as he thought of Sunshine's hair. He realized with a jolt that the more he thought about it, the more his memories cleared. If he tried to think back about his experiences, the fog would still be there, but it couldn't obscure her hair or eyes anymore! It was fantastic progress!

Hazel smiled. "That's great, Leo!"

Leo motioned to the bed. "I'm on a roll! Gimme the rose thing."

Hazel handed it to him. The past rose up instantly.

* * *

_Sunshine had suddenly stopped to stare at something. Leo backtracked a few paces._

_"Hey," he said. She ignored him. He waved a hand in front of her face. "Hello? Earth to Sunshine."_

_Sunshine ignored the nickname (thankfully) and pointed to the town square._

_Leo couldn't remember which town this was—they'd been walking a long way in Greece, and Leo's ADHD brain couldn't keep up with however many towns they'd walked through. He had a new respect for the ancient travelers that decided to walk across Europe and into China. Holy Hades, did his feet ache sometimes._

_Anyway, this particular town's square was decorated with streamers, wreaths, and candles. The whole picture was completed with a huge pine tree in the middle of the square._

_"What is this?" Sunshine asked. "Why the tree? It's not even alive…"_

_Leo laughed. "Holy Hephaestus, the time sure flew! I didn't notice it was December since it doesn't snow here!"_

_"Snow?" she asked._

_"Later," he promised. "Anyway, they're Christmas decorations."_

_"Christmas?" She tilted her head. "What is Christmas?"_

_Leo clutched his heart in mock-shock. "WHAT!? You don't know what Christmas is? It's only the best holiday EVER! People give other people free gifts, sing cheesy songs about love and family, a fat guy in fur rides a sleigh and travels the world with his flying reindeer…did I mention the presents?!"_

_"You're making this up," she challenged._

_"Am not," he responded. "It's totally true! Presents all around!"_

_She walked away. "You're such a liar," she said playfully, her braided cinnamon hair waving behind her._

_At that moment, Leo knew he had to prove to his Sunshine that Christmas was real._

_And he knew just how to do it._

* * *

_Christmas Eve had come and gone. It was 6 AM Christmas Day now. Perfect timing, in Leo's opinion. He had been working on Sunshine's gift for the past few days. It was hard, considering she almost never left his side (not that he was complaining). He was only able to pull the small gift out of his tool belt when she was asleep or when she left for the bathroom._

_He had lost a few good night's sleeps but this was totally worth it!_

_He put the gift in a small box and wrapped it up in shiny green paper topped with a delicate red bow. He stuck a label on it and wrote down _**To: Mi Sol :) From: Your Hero (aka: Supreme Commander Leo Valdez, the Super-Sized McShizzle)**

_He was proud of this gift. He hadn't made any Christmas presents since his mother died, so this one had a really special meaning._

_Sunshine was still asleep right now, curled up tightly in the hotel blankets. Leo gently shook her awake and said, "Rise and shine! It's Christmas!"_

_She yawned, looked at the digital clock and groaned. "Go away, idiot…It is far too early for any of your Christmas shenanigans. Try me in a few hours." She twisted around, putting her back to the son of Hephaestus._

_Leo laughed. "Not a chance, _mi sol_! Even kids get up early on Christmas! Besides, I happened to notice a small box just sitting on your table."_

_He set it down on said table seconds before she turned around. Her eyes locked onto the gift. She narrowed her eyes._

_"What is that?"_

_"It's called a Christmas gift," he explained. "You're supposed to open it."_

_She sat up and took the box. She weighed it in her hands, looking like she thought it might explode. She took off the little red bow and set it to the side._

_Leo immediately grabbed it and stuck it to the top of his head. His curls latched onto it. There was no way that bow was going to come out naturally, and Leo figured he'd probably spend a good hour trying to pull it out, but this was totally worth it._

_Calypso eyed him, trying to hide her smile as she unwrapped the box. She opened the box._

_Her face?_

_Priceless!_

_Leo grinned like a madman. "Do you like it?"_

_Sunshine held up her present: a hand-crafted rose made of Celestial Bronze with hints of Imperial Gold in the dull thorns and on the edges of the petals. Her bottom lip trembled and her eyes watered._

_"Leo…I…I love it!"_

_Leo's grin got wider. "I knew you would! Press the bottom thorn. The big one."_

_She did so. The rose trembled slightly. The petals all closed for a few seconds. Then, they opened to reveal a beautiful sapphire that glittered in the light. A small tune rang in the air—it was _'You are My Sunshine'_._

_Tears fell down Sunshine's cheeks. "Oh, gods…Leo…"_

_Leo leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "Merry Christmas, _mi sol_."_

* * *

Leo came back to the present in tears. He sobbed happily as he stared at the little metal rose in his hands.

Hazel came up and wiped his face off with her hand. "You okay," she asked gently.

Leo nodded. He pressed the big, dull thorn on the bottom of the stem. The petals shuddered, closed, and opened to reveal the sapphire. It was still as beautiful as the day she had opened it. _You are My Sunshine_ began playing softly.

Leo felt more tears fall. He didn't do anything to stop them.

Hazel's own eyes began to water. "Oh, wow…I didn't know it could do that!"

"You made that, didn't you?" Percy asked.

Leo nodded. He couldn't find his voice, too enamored by the song of the musical rose.

Percy walked over to the son of Hephaestus and gripped his shoulder. Leo latched on to that and used it as an anchor back to reality.

"Sorry," he whispered. "This was my first Christmas present to her…And it was her very first Christmas present _ever_…"

"Oh, that's so sweet, Leo!" Hazel exclaimed.

Leo nodded. He took a deep breath. "Okay…I'm ready for another shot. Gimme…um…the postcard?"

"You sure?" Percy asked. "You're lookin' real shaky, man. Maybe you should take a rest…"

Leo shook his head and glared at Percy. "I got this! I can get through this!" He was still clutching the rose to his heart, even though the song had long since ended and the rose returned to normal. "Give me the postcard of Paris."

Percy picked it up and examined it a second. "Nice tourist picture of Paris," he commented. "Me and Annabeth had a date there, once. It was pretty awesome. I think I'll try and convince her to go back once the kids are in school. We need a vacation!"

He handed it to Leo.

* * *

_"You can't be serious!" Sunshine laughed, almost spitting out her meal._

_"When am I not serious?" Leo asked, casually taking a sip of his water. Without waiting for his companion to answer, he continued, "The guy was so dumb he hadn't realized I had pants-ed him until he tried running after me! Bullies never could scare me!"_

_Sunshine wiped her mouth with a napkin. "You are utterly ridiculous, Leo."_

_Leo grinned. "Duh."_

_Sunshine looked out from their table. They were sitting at an outdoor café in Paris, sharing lunch. Which café? Leo didn't know. Almost three years of traveling made Leo indifferent to names—why did he need to remember the names of every little place they went? Knowing the name of the country was pretty much all he and Sunshine needed._

_"Leo," she began. "Do you know what tomorrow is?"_

_Leo shook his head. "Nah. You know I only keep dibs on Christmas and anniversaries."_

_She playfully slapped him. "I cannot believe you'd forget what tomorrow is! I had to pry it out of you when we first started travelling, just so I wouldn't miss it!"_

_Leo pondered, but came up short. Honestly, he couldn't even remember what day it even _was_. He didn't carry a calendar with him. "Whatever. I don't feel like there's any anniversary coming up. Is there?"_

_Sunshine huffed in annoyance. "Honestly. You are so dense you don't even realize what tomorrow is!"_

_"Well if you tell me, then I'll know!"_

_She leaned over the table and kissed him lightly on the cheek. He tried to maneuver it so she would kiss him on the lips, but she would have none of it._

_"If you can't figure it out on your own, then you might not deserve what I want to give you," she said. Sunshine abruptly stood up and walked away._

_Leo gaped at her retreating form. _What did I say!?

* * *

_The whole day, Sunshine stayed silent, turning up her nose every time he asked what day it would be tomorrow. He could tell she wasn't very serious, as she looked like she was suppressing a smile. It still pissed him a little that she was going to such extremes, though._

_The next day, she did speak to him._

_"Can you go and get some breakfast, _í̱ro̱as_? That bagel store across the street looks like it serves great food!"_

_And that was all she said. Leo warily obeyed. It was very rare that they didn't go out together. It made Leo nervous for whatever date he had forgotten was today._

Geeze,_ he thought. _Please don't be our anniversary! I've been good and remembered every year! What month is it, again?

* * *

_It took him nearly half an hour, but Leo finally got the bagels, along with a coffee and tea. That wait time was mostly due to an American tourist being treated very rudely because he didn't speak or understand a lick of French. Leo had figured out really fast that in France, people generally hated you if you spoke English and thought you were a stupid American. So, he spoke Spanish to them and Sunshine spoke Greek. Apparently, the French people didn't have much of a grudge against Greeks or Spaniards/Mexicans, so they were a lot nicer to Leo and his companion. Who knew? **(A/N: not every person is like this, this is just what I was told from various friends and family and fellow workplace members who got that reaction when they went to Paris. I mean no ill-will towards the French.)**_

_Anyway, he walked up the stairs to the room he shared with Sunshine, arms filled with the bagel bags and drinks. The door to their room was closed? That was odd. Leo was sure he had left it open, as he knew he had left his room key in his jacket pocket—which was currently draped on the chair inside._

_He kicked the door with his foot a few times. "Hey!" he called. "Lemme in? I left my key in my jacket!"_

_A few seconds later, his key slid under the door. Leo sighed and maneuvered everything in his hands just to grab the darn thing._

_Eventually he got the door open. "Fine. Be mad! Can you at least tell me what day it is so I can spend the rest of it apologizing—"_

_The bagel bags and drinks ended up on the floor. He finally realized what day it was._

_It was his 19th birthday today!_

_Wanna know how he figured that out?_

_He didn't do it on his own._

_Nope. He was too dense for that._

_It was probably something to do with Sunshine sitting on their bed…_

_…in a _very _provocative way…_

_…wearing only a large red ribbon that wrapped around her delicate features in a _very _flattering manner. Her hair draped over her shoulders beautifully. Sunshine didn't usually wear makeup, but _damn_! When she did, she knew how to wear it! A tag stuck up from the ribbon, right over her…well, you know…_

_It read: _**Happy birthday, ****_í̱ro̱as_. With love, your sunshine.**

_Leo was pretty sure he was on fire now. He was so utterly embarrassed, he couldn't keep his powers in check. He willed the flames to go out._

_"Wha—" he choked. "What is this?"_

_She smiled seductively. "You are nineteen today, _í̱ro̱as_. By modern standards, you are already a man. However, there is one thing that separates boyish men from real men. I am here before you now to help you join the latter."_

_Leo usually hated proper speeches, but whenever Sunshine talked like that, in a voice that could rival a siren's…He could care less about how formal she was being._

_He tried not to stare at her body, especially _that_ area. It was soooo hard, though! He averted his eyes, trying to hide his red face._

_Sunshine giggled. "Aww…is this too much for you?" She seemed to notice how much redder the son of Hephaestus got at that sentence and fixed her tone to one of (non-sarcastic) apology. "I'm sorry, Leo. I thought this would be a good present for you. If you don't want to rush into that, then I won't force it. I just thought…you might want to…but if you wish to wait, that is your decision."_

_Leo was suddenly on top of her (still clothed, mind you). He kissed her with as much held-back passion as he could. "Y-You're really serious about this?" he stammered._

_She smiled sweetly. "I am."_

_She gently took off his shirt and traced her delicate fingers over his many scars—forge-related or otherwise. She did that sometimes when they were sunbathing on the beach or hills, or even when they were just lying in bed watching TV. He never thought anything of it before._

_Now the simple touch sent new waves of pleasure shooting though his body—at a strength he never knew he could feel._

_"Are you truly sure?" she asked him, seeing his hair steam and his face turn a deeper shade of red. "We can wait if you think we're going too fast…"_

_Leo's hair stopped sizzling. His face returned to normal color. He locked his brown eyes with her almond eyes. After what seemed like eternity, he bent down and kissed her neck, getting lower and lower with each passing minute._

_"I'm ready," was all he said as he untied the ribbon from his birthday present._

* * *

**_A/N: I tried to keep that as T as possible. Still upper teen-appropriate, I hope?_**

* * *

Leo opened his eyes to the present. Why was the lighting different? Did that vision take _that_ long? He looked around.

Hazel was backed up against the wall, far away from the son of Hephaestus. Before he could ask why she had a look of terror on her face, Percy burst out of the bathroom.

"AAAAAHHHH," the son of Poseidon screamed as he threw a bathtub-sized wave of _fucking ice-cold_ water onto Leo.

Leo heard sizzling and saw smoke rise from his now wet body. He looked down, gasping for breath.

Leo's shirt was completely gone and his pants were now shorts, but the rose in his hands (along with the postcard) was still intact. His work boots had survived okay, and the jacket was fine, too. Leo recalled Sunshine mentioning long ago that the jacket was fireproof. Handy.

"Ho-oly…f-f-f-uck-k-k-k, P-P-Perc-c-cyyy," he chattered. "Th-th-that-t-t…w-w-was…c-c-c-cold-d-d!" Leo wrapped his arms around himself and buttoned up the jacket. He shivered violently.

"You were on fire," Percy said casually. "That was way bigger than your normal combustion size, dude. Had to put you out before you burnt the hotel down."

Leo shot him a glare. "With _cold_ wat-t-ter!?"

Percy shrugged. "Had to be done."

Leo meant to say something venomous, but saved his energy for warming back up. He set his internal temperature to soaring heights, which definitely did the job.

Hazel approached again with extreme caution. "You okay, now, Leo?"

Leo nodded. "Yeah, I'm cool."

"What was that memory about that got you all up in flames?" Percy asked.

Leo felt his face flush. He suddenly became very interested in his shoes.

"I…I would appreciate that you didn't ask that…ever again…"

Percy looked at him, confused. He shrugged and dropped it.

Hazel just looked at him with narrowed eyes. She smirked. "We're all adults here, Leo," she reminded him. That made him blush even harder.

"Just hand me the stupid picture!" he growled.

Hazel laughed. She took the picture of Leo leaning up against the Tower of Pisa and handed it to said Latino. Leo snatched it out of her hands and hoped to any god that was listening that the next memory wouldn't make him catch fire again.

* * *

_Twenty-year-old Leo sat nervously in his chair. Tonight was a big night for him. And for Sunshine. She just didn't know it yet._

_They sat in a very fancy restaurant in Pisa, Italy. The couple had had fun sight-seeing, and even took a few pictures of Leo being silly and making poses with the Leaning Tower of Pisa. They were backtracking from England, since they had seen London and a few other cities before deciding to return and see Italy for a bit. After this, Leo planned on taking Sunshine to see Spain for the rest of their last year together._

_But first, he had to get through this night._

_Leo had dressed up really fancy tonight. He wore a rented tuxedo with a red bowtie, combed through his really tangled curls a few thousand times, and scrubbed about a decade's worth of grime off his face—hey, travelling around Europe on foot for four years meant you didn't get to scrub your face as often as you like…_

_And Sunshine?_

_In one word: Breathtaking!_

_She had decided to wear a self-made dazzling red dress with orange highlights near the bottom, which made her look like she was on fire. Her not-too-high heels were black with grey speckled in there somewhere. That made it look like coals, which was even cooler. Sunshine was also wearing a choker with a white pearl in the middle, and had various pearls strewn through her extra-braided cinnamon hair. It was one of those rare times when she wore makeup, too, so every man that passed her nearly ran into something when she and Leo walked down the street—including Leo whenever he dared to glance at her through his peripheral vision._

_Oh, Leo loved her _very_ much!_

_Tonight, he was going to prove just how much he loved her._

_Sunshine was delicately munching on her salad when Leo finally got up the nerve to do it._

_Leo abruptly stood, nearly knocking over his plate and glass of water (still not old enough to drink, and he was _not_ going to break out the drinking habit until he was of age). Sunshine gave him a strange look._

_"You okay, Leo?" she asked tentatively._

_Leo felt like hyperventilating, he was so nervous. "Y-Yes." He cleared his throat. "Yes, I'm okay. In fact, I'm feeling just slightly giddy."_

_He stepped closer._

_"_Mi sol_," he began. "When we first met, we hated each other with a passion. But, even though we thought we both got the short end of the stick regarding love lives, the fact still remains that sometime during my stay on that gods forsaken island…we fell hard for each other. Okay, maybe I fell a little harder than you." He chuckled. "But, that's beside the point. These past four years that you've spent together with me have been the second happiest years of my life."_

_Sunshine smiled, confused. "What were the happiest?"_

_Leo's smile darkened for a few moments. "The eight years I spent with my mom will always be the happiest for me." He brightened again. "But I'm not gonna get into that today. Today is about you. You are the most beautiful girl _ever_ to come into my life—and I've met Aphrodite personally. You're funny, smart, cute…you're independent and brave. The best thing about you? You've put up with me for four years!"_

_Sunshine laughed at that._

_Leo coughed. "And I know that was hard at first…but we've come such a long way since our first meeting—literally and figuratively. So, with that in mind, let me just tell you a little bit about myself before I get to the point."_

_He cleared his throat very loudly, getting the attention of the people around him._

_"My name is Leo Valdez. I am a twenty-year-old Mexican American. I was born in Houston, Texas and lived there with my mother, Esperanza Valdez, until she died when I was eight. I was tossed from foster home to foster home until I was fifteen, all of which I ran away from. I am also a child—one of many, I might add—of the Greek god Hephaestus. I can speak English, Spanish, Greek and Creak-and-Squeak, as well as communicate in basic Morse Code. I'm impulsive, rude, sarcastic, good with my hands, funny, loyal to my friends, a chronic prankster, terribly good-looking, and extremely modest."_

_Sunshine snorted and rolled her eyes._

_"I also have a severe case of ADHD and am dyslexic. My fatal flaw, I'm told, is inferiority—which I have learned to deal with these past few years. But the biggest thing about me is that I fell head-over-heels over an immortal girl that was cursed to fall in love with every hero that washed up on her island. So, after hearing all of that…"_

_Leo bent down on one knee. People around them gasped. A few girls squealed and aww'd. Sunshine's mouth fell open._

_The son of Hephaestus took out a blue box and opened it. Inside was a golden engagement ring topped with not a diamond, but a gorgeous sapphire as blue as the sea._

_"Will you Calypso, daughter of Atlas, marry me and become Calypso Valdez?"_

_The girl blinked a few times and pinched herself, like she was testing if this was real. The entire restaurant had gone silent, awaiting her answer. Even the waiters had paused._

_Leo's heart was literally in his throat. He was pretty sure Hades could hear it all the way down in the Underworld. She was taking a long time to answer. Had a whole day passed without her answering his question? Or had it been a year?_

_After an eternity, her open mouth reformed into a huge smile. She nodded furiously._

_"I will!"_

_She flew into Leo's open arms and they kissed passionately. The restaurant clapped and cheered, calling out congratulations in Italian, English and even Spanish._

_Leo didn't hear any of that._

_He could just barely hear the gods Hermes, Aphrodite, Apollo and Hephaestus in his head congratulating him._

_No, the only thing Leo heard in that single moment was his fiancé's murmur in his ear:_

_"I love you, Leo!"_

* * *

Leo felt the fog lift at last. The heavy burden that had haunted him for three years was gone. He could remember her.

He remembered Calypso!

Calypso, daughter of the titan Atlas.

Calypso, the immortal girl stuck on Ogygia for three thousand years.

Calypso, the girl that had travelled through Europe with Leo for five years.

Calypso, the wife of Leo Valdez…

…and the mother of Tulio and Esperanza Valdez.

"Leo?"

Hazel's voice threw him back to reality. He didn't wipe away the tears.

He looked at Hazel and Percy with tear-filled eyes.

"I remember her!" he exclaimed. "It's Calypso!"

Percy nodded. "I had a sneaky suspicion it was her." He grinned. "Congrats, man! You really deserve her!"

Hazel smiled. Leo knew she had heard the story of Percy meeting the titan enough times to know who Calypso was. "You finally remembered her! That's so great! But I'm curious: Where is she now?"

Percy looked like he had just come to the realization himself. He looked to Leo for the answer.

Leo was about to provide an answer, since he could now remember the conditions for returning to Ogygia a second time (oh, that hurt his heart). But, before he could get on syllable out, a blinding light came from the main room. The demigods all raced out of the bedroom.

There, sitting on the couch, flipping through a **_People_** magazine, was Aphrodite herself.

* * *

_**A/N: Cookies all around! Leo remembered!**_

_**Let me just say that the next Madrid chapter will be consisting of one final memory:**_

_**THE WEDDING!**_

_**I'll let you guys sit on that until then :3**_

_**Also, hey ArtemisApollo97! Looks like we both thought 'Proposal' was the theme of the week! lol Not copying you, that just happened to be a happy coincidence :D**_


	31. Tying and Bending

_**Yay. I'm back to a normal-sized chapter. Well, it's a little shorter than the norm, but who cares? :D **_

_**Yes, I do live in Hawaii. But I'm not Hawaiian. I'm from Missouri, originally, and am Missourian at heart. :)**_

_**Disclaimer: I own the kids, but not the adults.**_

* * *

**Thirty: Tying and Bending**

Harley had to restrain himself from screaming. _Calypso_ was the one that had suppressed Leo's memories!?

"Why," he demanded. "Why would you do that!? Every time Leo tries to remember you, even if it's by accident, it hurts him! I've seen it!"

The Titaness flinched. "Hurt? I never meant for it to hurt him…"

"Then what were you trying to do?"

She sighed. "I only meant to take the fog that blocked out his demigod memories and reshape it to block out his memories of me. I never meant for the fog to cause him pain!"

Harley glared at her and spat, "Well, it does! Why did you do that, anyway!?"

Calypso looked him right in the eye. "You know Leo. He doesn't like rules. If he wants something done, he'll do anything to make sure it's done."

Harley nodded. Leo was that kind of person. Even if Harley had known his older brother for a little less than a year, it was pretty easy to figure Leo out—even for an eight-year-old.

"I did this for his own good," she continued. "He is stubborn, protective and deeply in love. He would do anything for my sake. He _is_ my husband, after all."

_That_ was news to Harley, though it shouldn't have been too surprising considering the twins' existence. It still made his eyebrows raise slightly, though.

Calypso continued, "I knew he wouldn't be able to bear being separated a second time, and that he'd try some stunt to get into contact with me. Or worse, try to come back again—which would end in him dying. I took away every memory of myself so he wouldn't be stupid."

Harley agreed completely. "I guess you're right."

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. "Oh, wait! Leo's in Spain right now! He's on a quest to regain his memories of you! Do you think he'll try to find you once he remembers completely?"

Calypso pondered a moment. Finally, she said, "I doubt it. Leo was impulsive as a teenager, but perhaps raising the twins had mellowed him out enough…He wouldn't do anything that would scar Tulio and Esperanza now, surely. That includes risking them losing their father."

"That's another thing," Harley interrupted. "I've been doing the math in my head…something isn't right. Leo's 24 right now. When you guys got separated, he was 21. The twins are only two years old. Are the twins really his?"

The Titaness smiled. "Yes they _are_ his. On Leo's 21st birthday—before I had to leave—we had one more round of love-making together. I returned to Ogygia as promised and realized I was pregnant a few weeks later."

"But the math doesn't add up at all," he reminded her, trying to hold back the blush at the mention of _love-making_. "There's a whole year that's left unaccounted for!"

"That would be Ogygia's magic," she explained. "Time flows differently here. The nine months I spent pregnant with the twins—and a few days spent weaning them to formula—all added up to one year in the mortal world."

"But why give them up?" Harley tried to be sincere with this. After all, it was most likely a touchy subject for her.

Calypso gazed at her two children, who were now napping under the willow tree—no doubt having just collapsed from exhaustion and decided to sleep where they fell. "I have been alone for three thousand years. I am used to extreme solitude. Leo, though he had a very lonely childhood, hadn't yet experienced the kind of loneliness that came with willingly giving up a loved one. Even though he couldn't remember me, I knew he was lonely. I gave up the twins so he would never be—or feel—so alone again."

Harley smiled. "Yeah, he definitely hasn't been lonely…Honestly, I don't know how he's been doing it. Babysitting them has been a real challenge!"

Calypso giggled. "Surely an ordinary child of Hephaestus can handle a couple of his legacies! They have just turned two, for goodness sake!"

Harley shoved his thumb in the twins' direction. "They got a certain gift that makes it extremely hard to get near them when they're mad or upset."

Her eyes widened. "They're fire-users?! Oh, gods, I had no idea!"

"That's not all," Harley said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Tulio can teleport. I do believe that's from your side, not Leo's…"

She stared at her son for a few minutes. "Tulio teleports, huh? I guess that would be the titan blood. It's a little more powerful than Olympian blood. Espie probably has a hidden titan ability somewhere, she just doesn't know it yet."

"So that means…" Harley trailed off, trying to think.

Calypso smiled knowingly. "That's right. They aren't just legacies. Tulio and Esperanza aren't even demigods. They're demititans."

Harley shivered. Demigods were bad enough. Big Three demigods were worse. But demi_titans_? Harley shuddered to think what kind of power the twins would have when they matured!

Calypso chuckled. "I wouldn't worry, Harley. Though I am a titan, I am also banished. My magical power was limited to what it is now long ago. Whatever power the twins received from me will have been weak—Big Three level at best."

Harley sighed in relief. "Oh, no offense," he apologized when she gave him a weird look. "It's just I don't think the world needs a couple of fire-using demititans."

She smiled. "They can't help their birth. I'm sure Leo will raise them to be in control of their powers. Plus, they have Leo's friends to help them, too. I'm sure the world will be fine."

Harley laughed. He looked over at the sleeping twins. "Maybe we should grab them."

Calypso nodded and got up. The adults walked over and observed the twins with smiles on their faces.

Tulio was curled up around Espie's feet. Espie stretched suddenly and twitched her foot. By doing so, she actually kicked her brother in the face. Tulio groaned and opened his eyes. He saw Espie's retreating foot, frowned, and groaned again.

Then, he disappeared with a small _pop_!

Harley gasped. He started spinning in circles to see if the boy was nearby.

Calypso giggled. "Two years old and Tulio's already learned how to teleport. Don't worry. Newborn immortals often have difficulty controlling their teleportation. What few demititans that have existed in the past that also had this ability were the same. Tulio has not gone far."

As if summoned, the Latino toddled out from behind the willow tree. Calypso smiled smugly. "See? Tulio, are you a tired baby?"

Tulio nodded mutely. He yawned and waddled into his mommy's arms with his eyes closed. The Titaness picked her son up gently and began humming a little tune. Tulio woke up a little and fixed his almond eyes onto her.

Calypso smiled. "You feel better now?"

Tulio gave her a toothy grin. "Yes, Mommy!" He hugged her. "I love you, Mommy!"

Harley resisted the urge to 'aww' and tried to think of something less cute (hey, he was a hardened Hephaestus kid—no time for cute, right?). He thought about how Leo was possibly regaining his memory as they sat here, and of the memory he saw with Calypso earlier. _What did they say about why she had to stay? Immortality…her immortality has to be tied to something—most likely something also able to be immortal. But does it really have to be the island?_

"Calypso, let's talk about your conditions," he said. "I feel like the condition about your immortality being tied to the island isn't very clear."

Calypso kept Tulio in her arms. "What do you mean?"

Harley shifted his feet. "I don't know…it just seems that perhaps you could possibly _move_ your immortality to something other than the island? Maybe a random mountain or something in our world? Does it _have_ to be the island?"

"If I break the tie, I will fade," she said. "That is the rule of immortals."

"I realize that, but what if…what if you stretched your immortality to something else and _then_ removed the island tie?"

Calypso pondered that. "That could work…but what is there in the world that can handle a piece of immortality that hasn't already been claimed by another immortal?"

"Something eternal," Harley drawled. "Something that lasts…what could last forever without changing?"

Tulio bounced in his mother's grasp. "Love! Love forever!"

Harley shook his head. He doubted the boy had any idea of what was going on, but humored him nonetheless. "Sorry, kid, but love is already claimed by Aphrodite. I don't think she's willing to collaborate."

"No," Calypso agreed. "Even in this situation, Aphrodite wouldn't share the patronage of her most beloved power. Love, unfortunately, cannot be the answer."

Tulio shook his head, his curls bouncing. "I love Mommy! Espie love Mommy! _Papi_ love, too!"

Harley's eyes lit up. "Leo…LEO!" The sudden noise made Espie wake up. "That's it! He _is_ the answer!"

Calypso tilted her head. "Pardon? How can he be the answer if he cannot come back?"

Harley spread his arms wide. "He can't come back, no. But he _can_ provide a tie to your immortality."

"Explain."

"Love may be Aphrodite's domain overall, so that makes _true_ love immortal, even in death. But, I bet you anything that Aphrodite would be willing to share _one_ piece of that domain—especially if you are such a big part of that piece to begin with. So, if you tried to claim _just_ Leo's unwavering and true love as your tie to immortality…it might work just long enough for you to become mortal and leave Ogygia!"

Calypso's face broke into a huge smile. "Oh! Oh, yes! That could be it! Leo never lost his love for me, even a little bit, during our vacation. I could use that as my secondary tie! Yes! Harley, you're a genius!"

Harley blushed. "Nah, I was just going off of what Tulio spouted. He's smarter than he should be, y'know."

Espie walked over to her mother. Calypso smiled down at her daughter and said, "Have a nice nap?"

"Yes," she said proudly.

"Good." The Titaness turned back to Harley. "Alright. I shall try to tie a piece of my immortality to Leo's love. The worst that could happen would be Aphrodite refusing to share."

She set Tulio down, straightened back up, and closed her eyes. Harley backed up a pace and willed the kids to come closer to him. Calypso began to glow faintly.

Suddenly, darkness enveloped the whole group. Calypso's glow faded, yet a light source was near enough for them to see each other. The Titaness opened her eyes.

"What has happened?" she gasped. "I was just about to make a connection!"

"I don't know," Harley admitted. "You were doing fine, and then the world went black."

Calypso shuddered. "Why did I have to say that Aphrodite saying no would be the worst that could happen? I'm such a fool!"

Harley shook his head. "Don't blame yourself. There's gotta be a reason we're here in the dark."

The twins began shivering. Espie whined, "Dark…no like dark…"

Tulio nodded furiously. "No like dark…" he repeated.

_"Fire has flown East to the long dream's end…"_

Harley just about jumped out of his skin. That was an old lady's voice! And it sounded like nails on a chalkboard!

_"The rules the son of the Forge now bends…"_

Calypso stiffened at the second voice. "Oh no…it can't be…"

_"There are two groups of three, equaling six…"_

A third old lady voice? _Oh Styx_, Harley thought. _Please don't let it be them!_

_"But one has yet to rewrite the Styx…"_

The twins shivered and huddled really close to their mother.

_"Sea and Death have helped open Fire's gates…"_

There was a pause.

Three old ladies in dark and tattered robes appeared out of the darkness. The hag on the right held a red sock with a flame design on it. The hag on the left held a blue glove with a dolphin embroidered in the weave. The middle hag held scissors and a plain green doily. The green doily and the glove were both faintly glowing, connected by a single string that seemed to glow gold. A knot was tied right in the middle of the golden string.

Harley knew exactly who these old ladies were.

They were none other than the Fates!

The all-seeing hags suddenly spoke in perfect, knife-on-chalkboard unison:

"_And now Titan's children must amend the fates."_

* * *

**_A/N: Ha! I bet none of you remembered the prophecy from like a billion chapters back!_**

**_I figured I'd remind you what it said, only now I've switched up the lines, since the Fates are actually making an observation. I am NOT going to have them rhyme all the time, I just figured this was highly appropriate._**

**_I'm just full of these damn plot twists, aren't I? 0:)_**


	32. My Big, Fat Latino-Greek Wedding

**_Last memory chapter guys! Hope you're all excited for a semi-mushy wedding! :D It's not gonna be very humorous, but I tried to add some funny things in there anyway. Hope you enjoy it!_**

**_By the way, this is more of a filler chapter. Not much plot stuff going on here :)_**

_**Disclaimer: I'm not Rick, so the canon characters are not mine.**_

* * *

**Thirty-One: My Big, Fat, Latino-Greek Wedding**

"Uh," Leo said brilliantly. "Lady Aphrodite?"

The love goddess looked up from her magazine and smiled. "_Finally_," she exclaimed. "You finally remembered! Oh, I'm so happy!"

Hazel was very confused at the goddess's sudden appearance. "Pardon me for asking," she began. "But what are you doing here?"

Aphrodite smiled. "Well, Leo isn't done with his memories. There is still one more to recall before he can return home."

Hazel stole a glance at Leo. He looked pretty beat. Heck, Hazel remembered feeling woozy after just _one_ flashback as a teenager. How many had Leo had in the past day? She didn't blame him for being so tired.

But, against Hazel's judgment, Leo raised his chin and tried to hide his exhaustion. She commended him for the try.

Apparently, so did Aphrodite. "Aww, sweetie," she cooed, fluttering her eyelashes. "Why don't you go lie down? You look absolutely tired!"

Hazel felt tired just hearing that charmspeak. She noticed Percy's eyelids drooping. Both of them were trying very hard to resist.

But Leo, the true recipient of the charmspeak, didn't stand a chance. He nearly collapsed on the ground before walking like a zombie back into the bedroom. The poor son of Hephaestus couldn't even try to fight it, he was so beat.

Aphrodite giggled. "Such a good boy." She turned back to the two demigods still in the room. "Now, on to Leo's last memory!"

"But Leo just went to sleep," Percy reminded her.

"Oh, it's okay," the goddess said, waving her hand. "We can make it a dream-vision! And I want you two watching this one! OH! It's going to be so great! Weddings always are!"

"Wedding?" Percy and Hazel asked in unison.

Aphrodite ignored them and strutted out of the room. Percy and Hazel exchanged a glance and followed her into the bedroom.

Leo was sprawled out on the bed, not even tucked in. It was like he just flopped onto the bed, which was probably what happened. His head was barely on a pillow, and he was drooling slightly. Hazel wanted to mess with his sleeping form so badly, but hid that feeling with the goddess present. Aphrodite didn't seem like one for pranks.

Said love goddess was sitting in a chair next to the bed, beckoning the two demigods over. She pointed to Leo. "Touch him and I'll send up the vision. He's reliving it right now, so you'd better hurry before you miss the best parts!"

Hazel shrugged and placed a hand on Leo's back. Percy did the same.

The same fog from before enveloped them. Hazel saw Percy take on the ghost-like form.

The fog cleared pretty quickly. Hazel gasped at their surroundings.

* * *

_The wedding was taking place on a cliff overlooking the ocean. It was on the edge of Malta, where Leo had first ended up after escaping Ogygia. This was his request, since Malta was a 'we like Calypso' kind of place. Calypso didn't mind in the least. She was just happy to get married in Greece, it didn't matter where (okay, maybe not Athens…)._

_The aisle consisted of a long white satin carpet that stretched as far as the hill to the cliff. On either side of the aisle was a few rows of seats, all of which were occupied with gods, retired good titans (Helios, Selene, etc.), nymphs, and satyrs. Mortals were not invited—duh._

_The altar was underneath a white wooden arch, which was covered in delicate baby-blue ribbons and small, white balloons._

_Leo was standing under the altar._

* * *

Hazel had to double-take. She had never seen Leo so…_clean_!

* * *

_Leo was the cleanest he had ever been before. There was no trace of him being a Hephaestus kid now. He was clean as a whistle. His normal rats-nest hair was now combed back and held down with mousse and hair gel. Leo wore a clean black tux with a red button-up shirt and orange bowtie. A small flame design was visible above his pocket, where a white rose sat. It looked as if the rose was on fire, which was a really cool design._

_Leo himself was standing perfectly still—something he had _never_ done before in his life! He wasn't allowed to tinker _at all_ during the ceremony, nor was he allowed to fidget. Normally that would have driven him insane, but today…well, he could make an exception for today. It wasn't technically his day._

_It was _hers_._

_The Muses began singing a few songs. Lord Hermes strutted down the aisle, followed closely by Apollo. Both of them had fought over being Leo's best man (for some strange reason that Leo couldn't even fathom) so they eventually settled on sharing the job. Hey, they were gods, who was Leo to argue over what _they_ wanted? And they both had collaborated with Dionysus to make one kick-ass bachelor party, so Leo couldn't really complain._

_Aphrodite came next in her dazzling light blue dress. She was the maid of honor for Calypso, and her only bridesmaid. Leo could see that having only Aphrodite as your entourage would be better than having all the female gods join in. He shuddered to think what would have happened if Hera decided to join that party._

* * *

Percy shuddered next to Hazel. Hazel could agree, though she was thankful that Aphrodite wasn't _her_ maid of honor. She felt like that would have been a nightmare to get through.

Aphrodite huffed. "No one does a better job than me! I practically designed this _whole_ wedding! I even gave Leo that wonderful makeover! You see that? Not a scratch or stain on him! You can finally see his eyes! And his lovely face? How chiseled." She started raving on about how handsome Leo was, so much so that Hazel thought Aphrodite was starting to crush on him.

Hazel held back a giggle at the thought.

* * *

_Following Aphrodite came a small water nymph and baby satyr. The nymph held a little blue basket. Every once in a while, she'd reach into the basket and throw a handful of white rose petals out onto the aisle. The satyr was carefully holding a red satin pillow. Two rings—gold and silver—rested on the pillow._

_As soon as the kids took their place near Leo, Hermes, and Apollo, the Muses changed their tune. They started singing 'Here Comes the Bride'._

_Leo had never really cried tears of happiness before. Sure, he'd cried while laughing, but that's a completely different matter. Right now, those happy/sappy tears were threatening to fall down his face, and he hadn't even seen Calypso yet!_

_Aphrodite looked over at the groom and whisper-yelled, "Not yet, stupid! You are _not_ allowed to cry until _after_ you kiss the bride!"_

_Leo held it in; not for Aphrodite's sake but because it would be highly embarrassing to cry like a freaking baby in front of all these Greek gods! _Suck it up and be a man_, he thought._

_Hermes and Apollo snickered. Leo blushed and thought, _Stop reading my mind!

* * *

Percy burst out laughing. Hazel glared at him.

He wiped a tear from his ghostly eye. "Sorry, but that's too great!"

Aphrodite gave him a smug look. "Careful, Perseus Jackson. I know for a fact that your wedding wasn't full of dry eyes. Don't make me show Leo that splendid wedding when he wakes."

Percy shut up.

* * *

_Calypso came in sight._

_Holy._

_Hephaestus._

_Calypso was stunning, which was putting it mildly. You know what she was wearing? A simple, strapless white gown with about five feet of train flowing behind her. That was all there was to that dress. No ruffles. No lace (except, you know, in the veil). No bows. No frilly little designs to distract your eye. That dress was possibly the simplest wedding dress in the world. But with Calypso in it, it was easily the most beautiful._

* * *

Aphrodite sniffled. "She made that thing herself. Wouldn't let me near it. I can't imagine why! She would have had the best dress in the world if I had designed it."

Hazel said nothing. She knew the dress Calypso had on would be better than anything Aphrodite designed, hands down. Nothing showed her natural beauty off more than that simple dress.

* * *

_No one would be giving her away, seeing as how Atlas was still holding up the world, but a couple of water nymphs held the Titaness's train as she walked down the aisle._

_Calypso was beaming through her veil. Her immortal glow was stronger than normal._

_Leo tried very hard not to catch fire._

_Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of her walking, Calypso made it to the altar. Leo took her hand and led her closer._

_Hera stood there under the arch, looking bored out of her mind. Leo wanted to set fire to her hair, seeing as how he didn't want _her_ of all people to be their 'priest'. But, seeing as how she was the goddess of marriage and family, it was pretty much her duty to do this, especially when a marriage involved an immortal._

_Both she and Leo held back their annoyance for one another as Hera began:_

_"Gods, titans, nymphs, satyrs…and demigod. We are gathered here today to witness the union of the demigod Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus…"_

And Esperanza Valdez_, Leo corrected in his mind. Hey, she should get _some_ recognition!_

_Hera chose to ignore that thought. "…and the titan Calypso, daughter of Atlas."_

* * *

Percy looked pretty shaken.

"You okay, Perce?" Hazel asked.

"Yeah," he answered. "I guess I'm a bit happy that Calypso was finally freed. And that Leo got someone, y'know?"

"Aw, I didn't know you cared so much," Hazel said with a smug look. "Since when do you feel all emotional about other people's love lives?"

He glared at her. "Shut up! I just observed that Leo had nobody on the _Argo II_ while the rest of us were paired up—yeah, even _I_ noticed! I wasn't blind, just a bit busy."

"Busy sucking face with Annabeth," Hazel countered.

"And falling into Tartarus," he shot back. "The point is, I'm glad to see that my friend is happy with the girl of his dreams. Gods knew Calypso deserved to be happy."

Hazel smiled. For a Seaweed Brain, Percy could be deep when he wanted to be.

* * *

_"The bride and groom have elected to recite their own vows," Hera said lazily. "Leo Valdez shall go first."_

_Leo gulped. This was it. This was the moment._

_"C-Calypso," he stuttered in an octave Leo had never reached before. He coughed and cleared his throat before starting again._

_"Calypso. I vow…I vow to always love you, for better or for worse, even in death. When I go to the Underworld and you are not there with me, I will always love you. I know that our time together is short, but I vow to make the rest of it spectacular. I won't allow you to have a single boring day in our marriage. I love you, Calypso. And I vow to never let you forget it, ever."_

_The nymphs and satyrs 'aww'd. Aphrodite was in tears. The two Best Men were nodding their approval. Even Hera seemed mildly pleased by the vow._

_"Calypso," she urged. "Your turn."_

_Calypso smiled under her veil. "Leo Valdez. I know that four and a half years ago, when we first met, I never even _dared_ to dream that you would be the one sharing this day with me. You are, without a doubt, the most annoying, most idiotic, and cheesiest demigod I have ever met. You have many faults, including your ever-present smell of grease and fire, which is not a good idea for cologne."_

_The crowd snickered. Leo blushed._

_"You have poor taste in jokes, and sometimes poorer taste in fashion—not that I can say anything about modern fashion, but still…"_

_She paused. Then, she lifted her chin and continued._

_"However, you—the annoying, cheesy, idiot jokester—have managed to make my heart skip a beat every time you hold my hand. You make me smile with every godsforsaken cheesy joke that comes out of your mouth. Your behavior makes me laugh and love life. Don't even get me started on how you make me feel when we kiss."_

_The crowd smiled. Leo smiled as well. _Score one for Team Leo_, he thought._

_"What do I vow? I vow to love all of you. I vow to love you for you, Leo. That includes the you that is sick of pity, the you that wants to run, the you that cries when you think of your mother, the you that feels lonely even in a crowd, the you that feels inferior—even though you are one of the strongest demigods of all time—and the you that tries to hide behind a mask of humor. I vow to love Leo Valdez—the funny, sad, talented, love-struck idiot—for eternity, and that means a lot coming from an immortal. And I vow to stay loyal to only you, even when you die. I vow to always remember you, Leo Valdez. Always."_

_Aphrodite was blubbering at this point. Leo felt a tear trickle down his cheek. Hera looked extremely pleased with that vow. Leo knew she would never let Calypso forget her vow to be loyal, even a thousand years after Leo died._

_Many nymphs were crying and sniffling now. Ares, in the front row, yawned. Dionysus read his wine magazine without a care. Hephaestus, also in the front row, nodded in approval when Leo stole a glance at him._

_"The rings, if you please," Hera said, gesturing to the baby satyr._

_The satyr waddled up to the couple and held up his pillow. Leo took Calypso's ring. Calypso did likewise with Leo's. Leo was extremely proud of himself for making her ring. It was silver, with dolphins delicately carved into the outside. On the inside was a beautifully detailed carved sun, with the words "_Mi Sol_" placed on either side of it. It had taken Leo a long time to make that, and he was damn proud of the result._

_"Leo Valdez," Hera started. "Do you take Calypso to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in life and in death?"_

_"I do," he squeaked, holding in tears as Calypso put the golden ring on his finger. He noticed it had flames carved into the sides and smiled._

_"And do you, Calypso, take Leo Valdez to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in eternal life?"_

_"I do." Leo wanted to laugh. She had squeaked her answer, too!_

_"Then," Hera concluded. "As the goddess of family and marriage, I now pronounce you, husband and wife! You may kiss the bride."_

_Leo needed no other signal. He lifted the veil, took in her gorgeous appearance (another day where she decided to wear makeup, he noticed with glee) and leaned in._

_Their lips crashed together, fitting together perfectly like pieces of a puzzle. Leo felt his hair ignite, but didn't move to pat it out. He wanted to stay like this forever._

* * *

Hazel sniffled. She remembered when she had kissed her (then-new) husband Frank. Diamonds and jewels had popped out of the earth, she was so happy. Pluto (who was present) willed them back down before any of the fauns could go grab them.

She looked over at Percy. He was smiling and nodding approvingly at the sight. She silently laughed at how, during the Jacksons' beachfront wedding, Percy got a little excited and made the tide come in early. A wave had knocked them over, but they had kissed as if it hadn't even happened.

When Jason had kissed Piper…Hazel concluded that Big Three children didn't like boring kisses. Jason had made a few hundred lightning bolts light up the sky when they kissed. None of the bolts touched down, thank goodness, but Hazel pretty much knew that Jason was being a showoff with them.

The fog came back and the trio found themselves back in the Ritz suite. Leo was still sleeping soundly, with the largest grin on his face.

Aphrodite smiled. "Let him rest. He's earned it now that all of his memories have returned. Oh, yes."

She reached under Leo's pillow and came back with an enclosed fist.

She held out her hand to Hazel. Hazel took the items that were in the goddess's fist:

Two rings, gold and silver. The silver one had dolphins carved on the outside. The inside held a sun with the words "_Mi Sol_" written on either side. The golden ring had flames carved on the outside. The inside had a hammer with "_Είστε ο ήρωάς μου_" written around it.

"What does that say?" she asked Percy, the Greek demigod in the room.

Percy examined the ring and huffed out a laugh. "You are my hero."

* * *

**_A/N: Was that Greek correct? I used Translate, so if that is wrong PLEASE TELL ME so I can immediately fix it! D:_**

**_I have not been to a wedding since I was, what, three? So, please don't say "oh, you forgot this, and this, and this!" _****_I don't care. This is how Leo got married. End of story._**

**_Awesome as Annabeth: Ha, you thought that would be funny!? Maybe the reception, but not the marriage :) Mwa ha ha!_**

**_GUYS! Only 11 more days til BoO! I am DETERMINED to get this fanfic done before the 7th! Think I can do it? I think I can, as there are only three (maybe four if I drag something out) chapters left in this story! Then I can post the other stories I have written up that concern the Valdez family! YAY!_**


	33. Titan's Children Want a Disney Ending

**_Third-to-last chapter! :D The finale of the twins' adventure!_**

**_Happy reading, y'all!_**

**_Disclaimer: I own the kids, not the adults._**

* * *

**Thirty-Two: Titan's Children Want a Disney Ending**

Harley gulped. The Fates. The _Fates_, of all things!

The twins were extremely terrified, shivering behind their mother's legs.

"Like Herclees," Tulio stated. "Scary ladies with one eye."

Harley had to think for a bit on that one. When he finally realized what Tulio meant, he snorted. _Did he really just compare the Fates to the inaccurate and fake Fates from the Disney movie Hercules? Ha!_

The middle Fate tilted her head. "Interesting thing to say, demititan, especially to someone who can change your fate with a mere snip of the scissors."

Tulio didn't really understand the message. "Why no have one eye?"

The Fates didn't respond, though the middle hag definitely raised her eyebrow.

Espie apparently wanted to follow her brother's lead. "Cut thread make ghosty lady appear!"

A hiccupping screech filled the area. It took Harley a while (seeing as how he shut his eyes and covered his ears) to figure out the horrible sound was actually the Fates laughing.

Yeah, he had to think twice on that.

The Fates—pretty much some of the most powerful immortals and could probably be classified under 'primordial' without argument—were _laughing_! Harley didn't know they could _do_ funny. Though, he could see why they didn't laugh that often. It was pretty freaking scary.

"The demititans have spunk, sisters," said the left Fate.

"Ignorance of youth is truly hilarious," the right Fate hacked through a chuckle.

The middle Fate fell silent first. She set her blind eyes on Calypso. "You," she growled. "You would dare to defy our rule."

Calypso squared her shoulders. "I have served my time on that island. Leo fairly broke my curse. All I wish is to be with my husband, Leo Valdez, and our children. Why would you deny me this?"

The Fates silently stared at her. Eventually, the middle piped up, "Why would _you_ deny your own birthright as an immortal? You would rather live among the pests and insects whose lives are so easily influenced by petty matters?"

Harley wanted to punch them. _Since when do the Fates consider _us_ pests? Aren't they the ones deciding our fates? Are they so bored with playing God that they just don't care anymore?_

Calypso snarled, "Being immortal does not make one better! The mortals that become gods see that clear as day soon after accepting immortality! Ask Hercules or Dionysus! If living forever means being lonely, grouchy, and depressed for all eternity—or living alone without any contact with the mortal world on a stupid little island—then I want nothing to do with it! I would rather take my chances as a mortal and die like one, too."

_Brave words_, Harley thought. _Though I doubt those will get her far._

The Fates looked at her with emotionless gazes. Then, the middle Fate smiled. "A fair argument, sisters."

"Clearly she has set her mind on mortality," the right Fate sneered.

The left Fate held up the blue glove. "Let us ask the demititans about this situation. Let _them_ decide a fate."

Harley snapped. "They can't do your job," he yelled. "Even if they _are_ of titan's blood, they still are too young to be deciding something like that!"

"Silence, son of Hephaestus," the right Fate snarled. Harley felt his words die in his throat.

The left Fate beckoned to the children. "Do you know what this is?" She held up the lone string that tied the glove and the doily together.

The twins shook their heads.

"It is what ties your mother to the island you were on. Without it, she could leave. Without that island in the way, she could be with your _Papi_. She could be happy."

The twins glanced up at their mother. Calypso looked like she wanted to say something, but Harley suspected she was given the 'silent' treatment as well.

"All it would take," the right Fate hissed, "is the snip of the scissors to this one little string. How about it, children? Help your mother out. She needs _you_ to decide."

Harley knew that was a trap. If the twins agreed and let the Fates cut the tie, then Calypso would fade before she could even _think_ about turning mortal. The Fates clearly didn't want Calypso around. _They must see her as a loose end. Is that why they're doing this? That's so unfair!_

Espie backed away from the old bats. She tugged on Tulio's arm.

Tulio, however, looked determined. He was gazing really hard at the string, but Harley could see that the boy's eyes also drifted over to the flame-colored sock.

_Can he tell that's Leo's_? Harley thought. _Wait, if the Fates are making the twins decide Calypso's fate, then why did they bring Leo's fate sock? There aren't any loose ends…no, wait. There _is_ one end, but it seems like the loose end _should_ be there. Like it needs to be…_tied _with something!_

Harley had no idea when it came to the Fates' motivation. Now he suspected this wasn't a removal plan so much as a game. But what determined you winning?

He was jarred out of his thoughts when Tulio spoke up.

"Make Mommy happy," he said, thinking out loud. "Make _Papi_ happy."

The scissors edged closer to the golden string.

Tulio walked closer. "No cut yet," he said, his voice quivering.

The Fates paused. Their faces were still emotionless. Harley would hate to have to play poker against them.

Espie came closer to her brother. Tulio whispered something in her ear. She nodded approval.

"We say," Tulio managed. "We say Mommy get happy ending! Happy ending with _Papi_. Make happen."

Harley was speechless. What kind of request was that?

Espie pointed to the sock. "That _Papi_'s. Loose string. Tie with Mommy glove!"

Harley commended the twins. They were really smart! Calypso looked over at him with wide eyes. He shrugged. _Perhaps her titan's blood made them smarter than they should be?_

The Fates didn't comment.

Tulio took that as a hint to continue. "No snip goldie string! Make Mommy ghosty! Give Mommy and _Papi_ happy ending! No make sad ending!"

The Fates laughed again, much harder this time. Harley felt like his ears would bleed.

"A happy ending, you say?" asked the left Fate. "Someone watches too many Disney movies."

"Disney happy ever after," Espie demanded. "Want that!"

The right Fate smirked. "We rarely make happy endings for Greek legends like your mother and father. Tragedies are our specialty."

"NO BAD ENDING!" Tulio yelled. An intense orange glow surrounded him. Harley was afraid the boy might explode, but Tulio didn't catch fire. He merely glowed dangerously, like coals in a fireplace.

"We want happy ever after," Espie screamed. _She_ caught fire. Harley and Calypso took a step back from the burning child.

The middle Fate smiled. "The Titan's children have decided your fate, Calypso. _That's_ what we wanted."

Harley didn't quite understand. _What do they want? I'm so confused!_

"Leo Valdez was not meant to find Ogygia so soon after the war," the left Fate remarked.

"However," the right Fate continued. "Because of his Stygian oath, he changed our design."

"We had to move around the stupid oath," the middle Fate sneered. "Even _we_ cannot break an oath on the River Styx."

"The oath he made to return to the island would have burned him inside out if he did not move fast enough," the right Fate said.

Harley paled. _Leo made an oath like that? Gods, he's such an idiot!_

"We do not like it when someone changes our design," the middle Fate growled. "Leo Valdez was originally destined to find Ogygia again in his 21st year and choose to stay. The twins would be born one year later on the island, which—with Leo present—would finally allow you to be free to leave."

"But because of his promise," the left Fate spat. "We had to rewrite our design. This is why we summoned the twins her now. They're purpose here is to amend what was broken by their father."

"And now," the right Fate said. "They have set our design back into motion."

The aforementioned Fate took the loose string from Leo's sock and held it near the middle Fate. The left Fate took out another loose string from Calypso's glove and tugged it to the middle. The middle Fate placed the scissors onto her lap momentarily.

"Tulio and Esperanza Valdez," she began. "You have chosen to give your parents a _happy ending_. However, that shall come with a price. When you are older, you will not be spared from the life many demigods face. You will get the same life as your friends. _Your_ happily ever after will be sacrificed for your parents. Do you accept?"

The twins glanced at their mother, then at each other. They nodded. Harley figured they didn't really understand what they were accepting.

"Mommy and _Papi_ be happy," Tulio decided.

"They happy, we happy," Espie concluded.

The Fates nodded.

The middle Fate tied Leo and Calypso's string together. "Then they shall get their _happily ever after_."

The Fates all spoke in unison:

"**_Titan's children have amended the fates._**

**_Bound by love, they shall never feel hate._**

**_Bound together, in life and in death._**

**_Together they share each mortal breath._**

**_None shall they love more than each other,_**

**_Save for a mother, father, child, sister or brother._**_"_

The string tying Leo and Calypso's items together glowed gold for a second. The middle Fate took the scissors and cut Calypso's tie to the Ogygia doily.

Calypso flinched and clutched her heart. But, she did not fade.

The Fate then took the same scissors and placed the blade edge on the tie to Leo. She began scraping off the golden glow—Calypso's immortality.

The Titaness doubled over and fell to her knees, gasping. The twins moved to help their mother, but Calypso held up her hands.

"No, kids," she said through her gasps. "Mommy can do this. Stay with Uncle Harley."

Harley grabbed the twins and hugged them tightly. They started whimpering, so he turned them around, making them face his chest. "Don't look kids. She'll be okay. I promise."

After a few minutes of the Fates scraping and Calypso gasping, silence filled the area once more. Harley looked at Calypso.

She was pale, no longer glowing with health like before. She seemed smaller, more fragile. However, in her tired state, her eyes held determination like Harley had never seen before. He smiled.

She smiled back weakly. She gave him a thumbs-up. "I'll be fine," she managed.

Harley looked at the Fates. They seemed to be smiling for real this time. Not evilly, like they had at the beginning. Those smiles seemed sincere and heartwarming—well, as heartwarming as three immortal old ladies with the power to change your fate could be.

"Welcome to mortality, Calypso Valdez," said the left Fate.

"You are free to live with your mortal family," the right Fate stated.

"And you shall be together with Leo Valdez, even in Elysium," the middle Fate concluded.

They all turned to the twins.

"Thank you for amending our broken design," they said together. "Your sacrifice for a happy ending is small. For amending your parents' fates, we shall grant you a happy ending; but you must survive your teenage years to get it, just like many demigods before you."

Harley wished he could be assured of a happy ending, but held his tongue. There was no need to annoy the Fates if they were in a good mood. If they were happy enough to restore the twins' happy ending after _just_ stating they wouldn't get one, he didn't want to risk it.

"Now leave, mortals," the Fates said, fading into the darkness. The middle Fate unraveled the doily. "Ogygia is no more."

"What about my things?" Calypso protested.

A small laugh could be heard. "Taken care of," the Fates promised. "Good bye, Hephaestus family."

And with that, the darkness faded. Harley gasped.

The four of them were standing next to the lake, in the very spot Harley had seen the raft appear!

* * *

**_A/N: Holy Hephaestus we're almost done!_**

**_Sorry if this chapter was a bit confusing. If you really don't understand then just PM me and I'll explain as best I can without making it a wall of text._**

**_I'm just super excited! I'm a little over halfway done with the next chapter, so expect that tomorrow. And the final chapter I will try to put up on Monday! :D I'm super happy! And, because now you know Calypso is returning, I can FINALLY post a Valdez family story I've been wanting to post for about three weeks now! :D_**

**_I'll put that up in a bit :3_**


	34. Let's Go Home

_**Earlier than planned! :D Bet y'all are thrilled about that!**_

_**Yeah, yeah, I know it's short. Sue me. I really couldn't think of what to do with this chapter. I could've combined this one and the finale, but I wanted my chapter count to come out at a nice, even 35. It might be a bit below the standard of the last few chapters, sorry.**_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize as canon.**_

* * *

**Thirty-Three: Let's Go Home**

Leo woke up feeling like his chest was going to burst. His heart was clenched, like someone had tied a knot in it and then began stretching it tight.

"Ngh," he groaned, rubbing his eyes. "What happened?"

He looked around, realizing he was in the hotel bed. How did he get there?

_Oh yeah,_ he thought with annoyance. _Aphrodite made me go to sleep. I wasn't _that_ tired, dammit!_

Percy and Hazel were sitting against the wall, eating again.

"Gimme something," Leo whined. "I'm hungry!"

The two demigods looked up at him and smiled. Percy threw a sandwich at the son of Hephaestus.

"Mornin' Sleeping Beauty," the son of Poseidon remarked. "Have a nice nap?"

"I've had better," Leo said, stretching. He nibbled on the sandwich. "How long was I out?"

"Not that long," Hazel said. "Just the whole night. We just woke up, ourselves."

Leo nodded. "Aphrodite?"

"Left after your wedding memory," Percy answered. "By the way, it was beautiful. Never seen you so clean!"

"You saw that memory?"

Hazel nodded and held up a disk labeled _**Caleo Wedding**_. "Aphrodite gave us the tape, too. She said that weddings should always be taped, for better or for worse."

Leo groaned. "Please don't show that to anyone," he begged.

"Why not?" Percy asked. "It was a nice wedding! You only caught fire once, and Calypso was drop-dead _gorgeous_. Great wedding, in my opinion!"

Leo blushed. He chomped on the sandwich in silence.

Hazel stood up and walked over to him. "Here," she said, holding her hand out. "You should have these back."

Leo smiled when she handed him the wedding rings. He slid his own ring onto his finger and slipped Calypso's into his jacket pocket. "Thanks."

"No prob."

"So, is that it?" Percy asked, still sitting against the wall.

Hazel looked at him incredulously. "What do you mean 'is that it'?"

Percy shrugged. "I'm just not used to a quest ending so…smoothly, y'know? Usually there's a lot more death and monsters involved."

Leo chuckled. "We could always go south to the Pillars and see our old pal Hercules. I'm sure that'll be fun!"

Percy made a face. "Shut up."

The trio laughed. Leo got up and gathered the memory things off the bed. He slipped them into his tool belt pockets—even Calypso's army jacket, which took a while to do, but he managed in the end.

"Yeah," Leo conceded. "I think that's it. We can't do anything more."

"What about Calypso?" Hazel asked. "Shouldn't we find out where she went?"

Leo shook his head. "No. She's back on Ogygia."

He explained the terms of his return to Ogygia. Sadness etched his voice. The tugging at his heart continued at every mention of his wife.

"Man," Percy said, rubbing his neck. "That sucks, bro. I'd offer to go get her myself, but I've been there already, too."

"You're not going to try and return again, are you?" Hazel asked.

"No," Leo answered without hesitation. "Maybe I would've a few years ago, but now that I've got the twins…I won't risk them growing up without me. I had to deal with my mom dying and leaving me alone. It left me broken growing up. I won't do that to my babies."

"I have a feeling Calypso took away your memories so you wouldn't return," Hazel concluded. "She probably did it to protect you."

Leo thought about that and nodded sadly. Then, he laughed. "Yeah, well, when the twins suddenly burst into my life one day, it would've been nice to get my memories back! I wouldn't abandon the twins for anything!"

The other two demigods nodded, smiling.

* * *

A few hours later, after saying a final good-bye to Tulio the hotel clerk, the demigods were flying home on Festus. None of them slept this time. They told stories about their respective kids and Leo's misadventures in Europe (minus one memory of Paris that would never come to light). They even started comparing Percy's time on Ogygia to Leo's—hey, they were bored!

"She threw a pot at your head?" Percy asked.

Leo grinned. "Had a welt for a good day afterwards! In her defense, I _did_ kinda pop in outta nowhere."

Hazel shook her head. "It's no wonder she didn't like you at first!"

"She was _totally_ on Team Leo," Leo stated. "She just didn't know it then!"

* * *

A few more hours, and one unexpected sea monster attack (easily handled by the son of Poseidon) later, the East coast of America came into sight. Leo urged Festus to go a little faster. He didn't say anything out loud, but the closer they got to New York, the harder Leo's heart clenched and tugged. It felt like somebody was actually _pulling_ him back to the camp. It was really starting to hurt.

_Get to the twins_, he told himself. _Get to the twins, tell them about Calypso, _then_ figure out why your heart is being weird._

Festus roared happily.

Without warning, the automaton dragon shot through the sky at light speed. Percy screamed, "Not agaaaaaaain!"

Leo struggled to keep hold of Festus. "Whoa, boy, not _that_ fast!" he yelled. "What's the hurry? You that excited to see the twins!?"

Festus whirred and roared, spewing extra oil, which landed on a couple of unfortunate beach-goers.

"Soooorryyyyyyy," Leo called, though he was sure they couldn't hear him.

Soon, Festus had slowed again. Leo was pretty sure he had swallowed every gods-dammed bug in New York after that escapade.

"Holy Jupiter," Hazel gasped. Her hair was frozen in that next-to-speakers-at-a-rock-concert-look again. Leo tried not to laugh, but it was just too easy!

"BWA HA HA!" He nearly fell off of Festus. "You look ridiculous, Hazel!"

Hazel glared at him with one eyebrow raised. "And you don't? You look like you stuck your head out of a plane."

Leo checked his hair and realized he was having the same problem as Hazel. He turned his head forward as Hazel snickered behind him.

Percy called from the back, "What are you gonna tell the twins?"

Leo hesitated before answering. "Uh, well…tell them that their mother's name is Calypso, I guess…I promised that I would do that as soon as I returned, and that's what I'm gonna do."

"But will you tell them that you can't go after her?" Hazel asked, concerned.

Leo didn't answer. Truthfully, he never really thought about it. He supposed the twins wouldn't take it that well. _I guess I can't tell them until they're old enough to understand_, he thought. _I just hope that they _will_ understand when that time comes…_

Hazel patted him on the back. "They'll understand, Leo," she assured him.

"Were you reading my mind?" he joked.

She rolled her eyes. "You're a pretty easy guy to read—whenever you think no one's looking."

Leo made a face. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She smiled sadly at him. "Don't think I never noticed you during the sad days on the _Argo II_," she said. "I may not have known how to comfort you, but I was always there in case you broke down."

Percy nodded.

Leo grimaced. "Even _Percy_ noticed? Was it _that_ obvious?"

Hazel gripped his shoulder. "Only when you thought no one was looking. And I'm talking about _before_ your sudden mood change after Malta. After that, anyone who knew you would've noticed."

"At least we know why, now," Percy added.

Leo nodded. "I'll try to hide it better next time," he assured them.

The trio chuckled as Festus lowered into Camp.

The tugging in Leo's chest was at it's peak. Leo was pretty sure his heart was going to burst out of him like an alien. He slid off of Festus as soon as they landed. His knees felt like jelly and he almost collapsed from the pain in his heart.

_No_, he thought, wincing. _It's nothing! I just miss my kids****__—_yeah, that's what it is! My kids...Tulio! Esperanza! Where are they? I have to see them!

"Where are mah babehs?" he yelled, throwing his arms around childishly. "_Papi_'s home!"

* * *

**_A/N: Filler-ish chapter! :D Not much happening, since it's near the end. Tomorrow (or perhaps later today if I get it done quick enough—no promises) I will try and post the FINAL CHAPTER! All the Caleo feels will be there, waiting!_**

**_NINE MORE DAYS GUYS! SUPER STOKED! I think I'm gonna die before that happens! D: SO LONG! *cries*_**

**_And for those who aren't following me: Wanna catch another story about the Valdezes? Check out "_How Hot Am I?"!_ It's the latest edition to my Leo-centric stories :)__  
_**


	35. Finale: Happily Reunited

_**Here. Just here. :D Finished ahead of schedule. Yes, I know it's pretty short, but I didn't want to drag it out. I think I did a nice job ending this.**_

_**Enjoy.**_

_**Disclaimer: The kids are mine. The adults are Rick's.**_

* * *

**Finale: Happily Reunited**

Leo looked around. They were on Half-blood Hill, just a bit further down from Peleus and Thalia's Tree. It was just around mid-afternoon, so campers were already supposed to be out and about.

But the camp was deserted.

"Where is everybody?" Percy asked.

Hazel gazed at the empty camp with worried eyes. "Frank?" she called. "Sammy Leo?"

Leo felt weird about her calling her son by both names. It made him feel self-conscious, yet somehow honored. It was still weird to hear his name be called out, yet to not be the one to answer it.

"Lacy?" Percy yelled. "Annabeth?"

Festus whirred. Leo translated, "Festus says he senses a bunch of demigods at the Big House."

The trio moved down the hill and walked through the camp. Festus stayed near Peleus and started what Leo was sure to be a one-sided conversation with the real dragon.

As soon as the Big House came in sight, they saw where everyone had gone: Everybody, campers and New Athenians, was gathered at the porch of the Big House, like they were waiting for Chiron to make an announcement or something. Chiron wasn't on the porch, though, so Leo had no clue as to why everyone seemed to be waiting around.

No one noticed the three new demigods in the back, so Leo cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "Thanks for the welcome back party, y'all! Makes me feel all warm inside!"

The demigods all turned and gasped. They cheered when they realized it was Leo. The New Athenians looked relieved.

_Like I would run away again,_ he thought with a smile. _They got my kids. Where else would I go?_

Speaking of kids, a small herd of them suddenly appeared from under everyone's legs.

Sammy Leo came first. He pretty much knocked over anything in his way—including a random camper's leg, which sent them tumbling. He barreled right into Hazel's arms, crying, "I missed you, Mommy!"

Lacy was next. She wiggled her way through the crowd like a Hermes child. She squealed when she saw her father and zoomed into Percy's arms. "Daddy! Daddy!"

Finally, Tulio and Esperanza came into view. Leo didn't wait for them to maneuver through the crowd. He pushed people over and made them move aside as the twins ran for him.

Esperanza reached him first. "_Papi_! _Papi_!"

Leo gave her a big bear hug. Tulio wiggled his way into it, laughing.

Leo held his twins at arm's length and said, "Hey guys. Remember how I said I'd tell you who your mommy is?"

The twins grinned.

"Well, at the moment, I can only tell you her name is Calypso." Leo's heart clenched harder at her name. "When you're older, I'll tell you more, okay."

The twins giggled. Leo gave them a weird look. "What's so funny, guys?"

They each put a hand over Leo's eyes. Espie shouted, _"_Close eyes, _Papi_!"

"Suppise," Tulio squealed.

Leo smiled and closed his eyes. He held out his hands. "So what's the surprise?"

Rough hands grabbed him and gently pulled him to a standing position. He heard Harley whisper, "No peeking, Leo. The twins and I went on _quite_ the adventure to get you this. And, by the way, I am _never_ babysitting your kids again. They are so high-maintenance it's not even funny."

Leo chuckled. "Tulio finally explode?"

"Nope. He teleported instead."

"Excuse me?" Leo was about to open his eyes to look at Harley, but Harley slapped a hand over them.

"Later, dude. This surprise is way more important."

Leo wanted to know about this teleportation business, but Harley would have none of it.

Before Leo could protest further, Harley said, "Hold out your hands, Leo."

Leo obeyed.

"So, you couldn't hand me my surprise when I was crouched down?" he asked. "Why did I have to stand back up to—"

Soft hands grabbed his own. Leo froze. These hands were smaller than his, and much softer. They sent tingles up his spine. Leo's heart was beating painfully against his chest. It was beginning to become unbearable.

Then…

…it stopped.

Leo's heart finally stopped being tugged. The 'string' went slack and Leo could once again relax. But that wasn't the only thing he noticed. No, the thing that was on his mind right now…

…was the kiss someone was giving him.

His eyes flew open.

There, kissing him passionately, was Calypso!

Leo pulled away and gasped, "C-Calypso! How did…you're here!"

His wife giggled. She leaned in and hugged him. "Our children," she whispered. "They found me. They figured out how to set me free for good."

Leo looked over at his twins, who were grinning next to a proud-looking Harley. Leo smiled and hugged his wife back. "No more separation?"

"No more," she said, rubbing circles on his back. "I'm mortal, now. I've still got healing powers and a few basic tricks, but I will finally age alongside you."

Harley smiled. "The Fates said that you and Calypso get a 'happily ever after'."

"Disney!" the twins shouted in unison.

Leo felt a tear fall down his cheek. "A Disney ending, huh?"

Calypso chuckled. "Yes. The Fates promised that we would be together, even in death. So, no choosing to be reborn, or else we'll both be lonely."

"I'll keep that in mind," Leo mumbled. "So, this tugging at my heart? Was that you?"

The former Titan smiled. "Our strings of fate are bound together. If we are far apart, the string tightens. One way or another, we will be led to each other again."

Leo smiled. "Cool. 'Cause, y'know, I totally thought something was wrong with my heart there, for a second." He stuck his tongue out playfully.

She swatted him. "You are such a child."

He grinned. "And you married this child."

He leaned close to her and kissed her passionately. Gods, how he'd missed this!

'Aww's could be heard from the crowd around them. Squeals of delight came from what Leo could only deduce was the Aphrodite Cabin. This time, Piper was squealing. Leo _knew_ she couldn't resist her inner Aphrodite.

"EWWWW," the twins squealed.

Leo broke away and glared at his children. "'Ew'? 'EW'?! I'll show you 'Ew'!"

Leo made a grab for the twins and dragged them towards him. He began to give slobbering kisses to them. The twins struggled and screeched against him, but he kept kissing them.

Suddenly, Tulio vanished with a _pop_! Leo paused and turned around.

Tulio was in Calypso's arms now. She had a look of surprise, coupled with amusement. "Oh yes," she said. "I guess I should mention Tulio got my Titan abilities—such as teleportation and possible healing powers?"

Leo laughed, still holding a wiggling Espie. "Well, that explains _a lot_!"

The crowd of demigods laughed. The only thing that could be heard above the noise was the sound of a little girl squealing:

"_PAPI_!"

* * *

_**A/N: Viola! All done! Fin! Wan le! THE END!**_

_**Before ANY of you start asking:**_

_**There won't be any **_**direct**_** sequel to this story, as I ended it pretty nicely.**_

_**Yes, I will continue writing about this version of the characters, regardless of how BoO turns out. Most of my stories will still be Leo-centric, and most future fics will be surrounding the Valdez family. It's an obsession I hope I never get over :D**_

_**I have already written out a timeline and plot line for my next big story,**_** The Keys _(title subject to change)_****,**_** which will involve the teenage children of the Seven and the Seven themselves. I've been planning it for months now, so all I have to do is write it down. :) Wish me luck on that.**_

_**Here's the summary (also likely to change):**_

**The Seven—Percy and Annabeth Jackson, Jason and Piper Grace, Frank and Hazel Zhang, Leo and even Calypso Valdez—have been mysteriously taken away. Their children, Lacy and Bobby, Mark, Sammy Leo, and Tulio and Esperanza, are given a key and a clue on how to find the first missing parent: Leo Valdez. Will be T for adult swearing.**

_**I won't abandon that, I promise. It'll just take me a while to write down, that's all. :)**_

_**And with that...**_

_**Stay cool, my peeps!**_


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